A Change Of Scenery
by aleexmariee
Summary: Set after Frostbite. Dimitri is going home to Russia to visit his family. Rose has to go with him as a training exercise. Will they manage to keep their emotions under control, or will they give in to what they want most?
1. Chapter 1

_Hello everyone :) This is my new story. The idea came to me a few days ago and I just had to write it down. I hope you enjoy it! The first chapter is a bit slow and boring, I apologise for that :( I have plenty of ideas though! I will update as soon as possible!

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**A Change of Scenery…**

_Summary…_

_Dimitri is going home to see his family. Headmistress Kirova says that Rose has to go with him, as a training exercise. Will they manage to stay away from each other when there control is put to the test…_

_Set after Frostbite.

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**Chapter One…**

"Blah, blah, blah." Was all I heard as Stan droned on about solo guarding your Moroi. I was close to the point of drifting off when the door to the classroom opened.

"Hello Guardian Alto." The female guardian, Celeste I think, at the door greeted. "Can I borrow Miss Hathaway for Headmistress Kirova please."

Stan nodded. He looked relieved to be getting rid of me. Eddie shot me a look. "What have you done this time?" He mouthed.

I shrugged my shoulders. "No idea." I mouthed back. It was true, I had no idea what I had done. If anything, I had only been good recently.

I followed Celeste to Kirova's office. The whole time I was puzzling over what I had been called for. When the door opened and I saw Dimitri there I almost panicked. _Dimitri _was the only thing I had done wrong. Even if we weren't together and probably never would be considering our situation, we had still had the stolen kisses and if anyone had seen them we would be in deep shit.

I sat down quietly, trying to keep the terror off my face. Dimitri didn't look at all concerned, in fact he looked like he was trying to keep the smile off his face. "Miss Hathaway." Kirova started once I had sat down. "I am sure you are aware that Guardian Belikov is going on a trip to visit his family next week." I nodded.

Dimitri had told me a couple of days ago that he was taking some time off to see his family. He looked so happy about it, I know he missed them. Although I was upset he wasn't going to be here with me, I was happy he was happy. I was going to miss him though. I didn't understand why Kirova needed to tell me this though. Maybe she was planning on assigning me a new mentor.

"Well due to your recent achievements," I flinched. I knew she was talking about my first two Strigoi kills. I subconsciously touched the two little marks on the back of my neck. _Molnija marks._ Although they were a sign of achievement, all they did was remind me of Mason. My friend who had been killed. He had come back for me, because he loved me, but I didn't love him back. I had led him on and that's why I blamed myself for his death. I should have died in that basement, not him. "I feel that Guardian Belikov's trip would prove an excellent opportunity to advance your skills further."

I must have looked as confused as I felt, because she continued. "You will accompany Guardian Belikov to Russia, where he will teach what it is like to be in the real world and face real threats."

I gaped at her. I was going to Russia with Dimitri. At least now I wouldn't miss him. Kirova dismissed us both and we headed outside. I looked at Dimitri, he now had the smile he was trying to hold back plastered on his face. "Well Comrade, at least I don't have to worry about missing you anymore." I teased.

He laughed outright. Wow. He really was in a good mood. "Me too." He agreed. "I'm really happy you get to come with me, I always wanted you to meet my family." He informed me.

I laughed. "I would love to meet your family." I replied honestly. "I always imagined it under different circumstances though." I mused.

I looked over to Dimitri to see his smile had faltered and he now had his 'guardian mask' on. I sighed. Just hinting at the subject of _us _was enough to shut him down. We both knew we were never going to be together, but it didn't mean we still had trouble in hiding our feeling for one another. The best way seemed to be ignoring it. Dimitri had certainly taken up that approach anyway. "Well, I have to go and tell everyone." I said before turning in the other direction. I faintly heard Dimitri sigh before I was out of earshot.

I headed to the commons where everyone was eating there lunch. "Hey guys." I greeted, sitting down. They all responded with hello's.

"What did Kirova want?" Eddie asked me.

Everyone turned to look at me. "You got called into Kirova's?" Lissa inquired.

I nodded. "Now if you are all quiet I will tell you why." They all shut up instantly. "I am going off campus for a while."

"What?" Lissa exploded. "How long is a _while_?"

"I don't know. I think probably about a month or two." I estimated, not really knowing.

Lissa gasped. "What?" She exclaimed again. "Where the hell are you going?"

"Russia."

"Russia?" They all repeated at the same time. "What's happening in Russia?" Christian asked.

"Well, Dimitri is going to visit his family in Russia and Kirova said that I had to go with him and use it as a 'training exercise'."

Adrian raised an eyebrow at me. He was the only one who knew about me and Dimitri's relationship, if you could call it that.

"Your going to Russia with Guardian Belikov." Christian clarified unnecessarily.

I nodded. "Yes." I agreed.

Before the conversation had time to go any further it was time for lessons. I got up to leave. "I will walk you to class Little Dhampir." Adrian suggested, following me out. As soon as we were out of earshot he began speaking. "So, Russia with Belikov. I imagine that will be quite the hardship." He teased, but I could hear the slight pain in his voice. "No one for you to hide from, I don't think I want to know what you will be doing."

I snorted. "We won't be doing anything and you know it. You know we can never be together, it won't be any different just because we are around different people. The reasons will still be the same."

"What do you mean?" Adrian inquired, confused. He didn't get it. I don't know why I thought he knew the real reason honestly. Why would he have thought of it. "I thought it was just the student-mentor thing."

I shook my head. "No. That's not all." I said quietly.

"What do you mean? There isn't much else I can think of." He informed me.

We had stopped walking by now, somehow we had managed to get out of the corridors and were walking just far enough away from campus so no one could see us and chase me back to my lessons. "You know we are both going to be Lissa's guardians when I graduate right?" I questioned, despite knowing he already knew the answer. He nodded in acknowledgement. "Well, Dimitri always said that if he let himself love me, he wouldn't throw himself in front of Lissa like he was supposed to." I paused slightly. "He would throw himself in front of me instead." I had a few tears running down my face.

Adrian looked shocked. "That's the reason your not together."

"Yes. The student-mentor things obviously plays a part, but that's the main reason."

Adrian suddenly had an angry look on his face. "What a load of bullshit!" He exclaimed. "That stupid fucking system is the only reason you're not happy."

I was astonished. I couldn't believe Adrian had insulted the thing that was keeping me and Dimitri apart. Adrian sensed my confusion and explained. "I know I don't like the idea of you and Belikov being together, because I want you all for myself, but I can see how much it hurts you. I always thought that school would finish and then you would be together no problems apart from the gossip, but your saying you will never be together. It's wrong." He explained to me.

I couldn't help what I did next. I threw my arms around Adrian and hugged him, a few more tears running down my face. His arms wrapped around me, pulling me closer into his chest. "Thank you Adrian." I mumbled into his chest. I wasn't entirely sure what I was thanking him for. Whether it was for understanding my problems, or for being selfless enough to admit that me and Dimitri should be together.

After a few minutes I pulled away. "I'm sorry Adrian." I apologised. "I'm sorry it could never be you."

Adrian nodded. "I understand Little Dhampir." He responded, before pulling me into another hug. "Doesn't mean I wont stop trying though." He teased. I couldn't help the laugh that escaped me.

"It's a wasted effort." I teased back. He chuckled.

"Not gonna stop me."

I laughed and he hugged me once more. I let him because I didn't want to ruin his happy mood by pulling away.

I heard a whistle nearby as Lissa and Christian walked up to us. It was Christian who whistled. I quickly wiped any excess tears that had escaped and turned around. Lissa was beaming. "Hey Rose."

I checked the bond to see what she was happy about. Great. Me and Adrian. She thought we were finally giving it a go with each other. I almost laughed out loud. The conversation we had just had had practically been the other way round.

"Have you been stood out here since lunch time?" Christian asked, curious.

"Yeah, I didn't realise how long we had been talking." I said laughing.

Christian raised an eyebrow. "_Talking._ Right."

I glared at him. "Yes. _Talking._"

Lissa cut off my glare by saying we should head back inside. We all agreed and headed back in. Soon it was curfew and we all went back to our rooms. I tossed and turned, thinking about how my trip would turn out.

I was nervous. I was nervous about spending time alone with Dimitri. I was scared I would say the wrong things and he would ignore me like he did earlier today. I didn't want it to be awkward, but I got the feeling that was going to be inevitable. I was nervous about meeting his family. I knew how much he loved them and I wanted them to like me too. Soon, I fell into an uneasy sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

_Here is chapter two! It is still a bit slow, we meet Dimitri's family next chapter. It was going to be this chapter, but then I had another idea. I hope you enjoy it anyway, and don't get to bored reading it! Read and Review with constructive criticism appreciated :D

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Chapter Two…

I woke up to my alarm clock beeping. I had no reason to not throw it against my wall today seen as though I wouldn't be in this room for the next 3 weeks. I had remembered to get Dimitri to tell me exactly how long we would be gone fore, turns out it wasn't as long as I expected. I wasn't sure whether that was a good or a bad thing. I settled back into bed, ready to close my eyes again when the door burst open. "Rose!" Lissa shouted. "You need to get up!" She came over and shook my shoulders.

"No. Go away." I protested. She continued to shake me, while I continued to groan. "I will get Dimitri to wake you up!" She threatened. I was tempted to stay, because me and Dimitri on my bed would definitely lead to some interesting situations. Unfortunately that wasn't an option so I pulled myself up, rubbing my eyes.

Lissa laughed, thinking her threat had worked. She sat down on the bed next to me. "I'm going to really miss you." She told me quietly. I leant over and hugged her.

"It's only for three weeks." I comforted her. "It will go by so fast you won't even know that I'm gone."

She nodded, taking some comfort in my words. "Won't it be weird for you, being with Dimitri and his family by yourself?" She asked, oblivious to the situation.

"No. It will be fine. Don't forget I spend every moment I'm not sleeping, in class or with you with him anyway." I reassured her.

"I guess I never really thought about it like that." She agreed, still considering my words. "Now come on! You need to grab your stuff, you're leaving soon!" She announced, ushering me out of the door.

Soon enough my bags were in the trunk of the same Honda Pilot that we had used earlier this month to drive to take my qualifier. That trip hadn't turned out very well and I hoped this one would end better. There was another car also going. Lissa, Christian, Adrian and Eddie were all coming to the airport to say goodbye to me. That meant some guardians had to come as well. Our party ended up being quite big in the end.

Me, Dimitri, Adrian, Lissa and Alberta were in the first car. Eddie, Christian and the other guardians filled the other one. Alberta was driving, with Dimitri next to her. I was between Lissa and Adrian in the back seat.

Dimitri began to fiddle with the radio and I groaned. "Oh, come on Comrade. Please don't put on your awful music." I begged.

He chuckled. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm the one in charge of the radio."

I groaned again. "This trip is going to be awful." I complained, banging my head against the seat behind me.

Everyone in the car laughed at me. That is until Dimitri stopped fiddling with the radio and his music blasted through the car. Lissa and Adrian's laughs turned to groans, while Alberta looked as though she was fighting the urge to sing along to the music.

I had just about managed to block out the music, when Adrian started talking. He constantly threw sexual comments at me, and with everyone I saw Dimitri stiffen. Adrian gestured towards him when no one was looking. "He's so jealous." He mouthed to me. I laughed and he joined in. Everyone stared at us like we were crazy, thinking we hadn't said anything. It just made us laugh more.

I didn't realise how long the drive to the airport actually was and seen as though I had been woken up early this morning, I had no problem in falling back to sleep. When I woke up, an arm was securely wrapped around my waist and a head was leant against mine. Soft snores were coming from Adrian. I could feel Lissa and Dimitri's eyes on us. Lissa thought we looked so cute together. Where as Dimitri's glare was practically burning a whole through Adrian's arm. I quickly nudged Adrian. He stirred but didn't move. I did it a few more times before I lost my patience. "Wake the hell up Adrian." I screamed at him.

He jolted upright. I laughed at him. Then he realised his arms were still around my waist. He removed them and mumbled an apology. Dimitri's glare softened, but was still evident. I almost laughed at him. We pulled up to the airport a couple of minutes later.

We filed out of the car and towards where everyone from the other vehicle was already stood. Obviously everyone couldn't come through customs and stuff with us, so we had to say goodbye here. Lissa ran up and gave me a hug, tears running down her face. "I'm going to miss you so much Rose." She choked out through her tears.

A few of my own tears ran down my face. "I'll be back before you know it." I reassured her.

Christian was next. He smirked at me. "You know your going to miss me Rose." He teased me.

"Damn right." I replied. "Your comebacks are much better than Dimitri's."

Christian laughed then pulled me into a hug. "I actually will miss you Rose." He whispered.

"Me too."

Next was Eddie. We hugged each other. "I'm gonna miss you Eddie."

"I'm gonna miss you to Rose. Make sure you have fun while we're all stuck with Stan."

I heard a 'HEY!' coming from Stan who was stood with the other guardians. Me and Eddie cracked up. We hugged once more and then I moved onto Adrian.

"I'm shocked to say that I'm actually going to miss you Adrian." I said laughing.

"Oh Little Dhampir, you know you love me really." He responded, pulling me into a hug. I hugged him back and we stood like that for a couple of seconds.

I tried to pull back, but he kept his arms around me. "You know your going to have to let me go eventually." I mumbled against him. He laughed, not moving in the slightest. "Or I could just kick you in the balls." I offered him instead.

Adrian immediately let me go and I smirked at him. "You know I might just kick you in the balls anyway."

Adrian paled slightly. I laughed. Dimitri spoke then. "Come on Rose, it's time to go." I nodded and began to follow him. I waved to everyone and a few more tears trickled down my face.

Everyone piled into the cars and left. Me and Dimitri stood for a few seconds before I turned to look at him. He gently brushed his thumb across my face, wiping the tears lingering on my cheeks. I felt my heart beat faster at the slight contact. "Are you okay?" He asked, concerned. "You don't have to come you know."

I shook my head. "I want to go." I reassured him. "I'm just going to miss them, you know? There like my family." I smiled slightly.

Dimitri laughed. "I know what you mean." He said smiling, before walking towards the terminal. He always understood.

We passed through customs quickly. The Moroi had an agreement with the airports, allowing us to get our silver stakes through undetected. While we sat waiting to board the plane, Dimitri told me about his family.

"I have three sisters, Karolina, Sonya and Viktoria. Karolina is the oldest and has two children, Paul and Zoya. Paul is ten and Zoya is about one." He explained. His family sounded so complicated. "Sonya is the second oldest and is two years older than me. She is pregnant. Viktoria is a year younger than you. Olena is my mother and Yeva is my grandmother."

I nodded taking it all in. I can imagine forgetting it as soon as we got there though. The plane was called to board after that and we settled into our seats. We had to transfer three times before we got there. Our final stop was Novosibirsk, from there we had to drive to Baia.

We were soon onto our last flight, to Novosibirsk. We settled into our seats and naturally Dimitri was reading one of those awful westerns. I was beginning to feel tired. I lightly rested my head on Dimitri's shoulder. I expected him to shove me away, but he let it stay. I fell to sleep within a matter of minutes.

When I woke up, there were arms wrapped tightly around me. I automatically snuggled closer to Dimitri, taking in the warmth he was providing. His head was rested on mine, but he wasn't snoring. I didn't ever want to move. I wanted to stay wrapped in Dimitri's arms forever. So while he was sleeping, I wasn't going to do anything.

Unfortunately there was an announcement shortly afterwards telling us the plane was about to land. Dimitri stirred then woke up. It took him a moment to realise he was still holding me and unravelled his arms. "Morning Comrade." I said smiling at him.

He grinned back. I could tell he was getting excited. "Morning Roza." My heart leapt as he said my name in Russian. The seatbelt sign came on next and buckled up, waiting to land.

Dimitri had hired a car and we set off as soon as we landed. The car was nothing special, but it wasn't grubby and dirty, so I was happy.

It was a long drive, and halfway there Dimitri pulled into a motel. "Why are we stopping?" I asked.

"It's getting dark out and Strigoi are always on this road." He explained. I nodded and got out of the car. We walked to the reception desk together. The receptionist eyed Dimitri up and instantly a flirty smile formed on her face. I scowled at her.

"Hello there, how may I help you?" She asked, looking pointedly at Dimitri and blanking me completely.

"We would like a room please."

"I am afraid that there is only one room available." She told us, well, Dimitri.

"That's fine thank you." He said, handing over some money.

She gave us a key in return. "Don't hesitate to come and ask me if something wrong."

"I'm sure we will." I said coldly, sarcasm dripping off my words.

Dimitri shot me a look. "Thanks." He said before turning around and walking towards the elevator. "What was that about?" He asked me, once the button was pressed.

"Nothing. She just pissed me off." I said quietly.

I knew he knew I was lying, but he didn't push it. He probably knew the real reason and didn't want to bring it up. We walked into the room and I placed my bags down on _the _bed. Dimitri stiffened up slightly. "I'll sleep on the couch." He decided, once he had walked into the other room and seen the small sofa.

I instantly felt bad. "Why don't you just come in the bed?" I suggested. I knew he would protest it, but I didn't want him to have to suffer on the couch just because he wouldn't share the bed with me. Also, I just wanted him to sleep in the bed with me, because I wanted to be close to him.

"No." He said, without even considering my offer. "I am sleeping on the couch."

I looked at the little sofa once more. Dimitri was about twice as big as it. There was no way he could sleep on there comfortably. "I will sleep on the couch then. I am smaller." I reasoned.

Dimitri shook his head. "You'll be uncomfortable, just sleep on the bed Rose."

"If I'm going to be uncomfortable, then you will be dying on the sofa. Your twice as big as it! Just sleep in the bed and I will go on the couch." I argued.

Dimitri looked like he was thinking it through. "We will both go on the bed." He said finally. "Your not sleeping on that sofa."

Now we had sorted out our sleeping arrangements, I decided to go for a shower. I picked up one of the large t-shirts I normally wore for bed and headed towards the bathroom. "I'm going for a shower Comrade." I shouted to him.

He grunted in response and I could tell he was still wary about the sleeping arrangement. I turned on the water and stood under the shower until it ran cold. I pulled on my underwear and the big t-shirt on over it. I looked in the mirror and realised how revealing this outfit really was. If I was going to keep Dimitri sleeping in the same bed as me, this definitely wasn't the right way to go about it.

I thought it would be best to find some shorts or something to wear underneath my shirt. I walked out the door, planning to go straight to the bedroom and avoid Dimitri who would probably still be in the lounge. It wasn't until I reached the bedroom that I saw Dimitri sat on the bed, reading a book.

He looked up when he heard me enter and his eyes instantly widened as they roamed over my body. "Roza, what are you wearing?"

I blushed. "Well, this is what I normally wear to bed, so I put this on after I had a shower. Then I remembered I was staying with you, so I came to put some shorts on, because I thought you would still be in the living room." I explained.

Dimitri sighed. "You don't have to put some shorts on if you normally just wear that."

I smiled inwardly. He just wanted to ogle me some more. It was nice to think he still wanted to look at me, even if nothing was going to come out of it. I yawned then. Dimitri looked up from his book again. "Are you tired?" He asked.

I nodded. "I think the time difference is getting to me." In Russia it was a different time zone, also we were going onto a human schedule like Dimitri's family were on. It just messed it up even more.

I went and lied under the cover on my half of the bed, while Dimitri put his book down. He slipped under the covers next to me, but kept as far as he could get to the other side of the bed. "Night Comrade." I whispered.

He flipped over to look at me. "Night Roza." He whispered back, before I felt my eyelids begin to droop and sleep took over me.


	3. Chapter 3

_Here is the next chapter. Longest one so far. Thank you for all the reviews, I am always happy to see what you think of my story :). We meet Dimitri's family in this one! I always loved Paul! I hope you enjoy it and review!

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Chapter Three…

My eyes fluttered open at the same time as Dimitri's, while light flooded into our room. My breathing instantly hitched and my heart rate increased. In our sleep we had moved around a lot apparently. Dimitri's hand was underneath my shirt and resting on my lower back. My hand had slipped under Dimitri's shirt and was placed on his rock hard chest. His face was buried in my hair and our legs were tangled together.

I looked up to meet Dimitri's eyes. He seemed to be in the same trance and couldn't break away either. The hand on my back pulled me even closer, so my body was completely pressed up against his. I could now feel his breath on my face. I wanted so badly to kiss him and the look on his face also showed pure desire mixed with love. My heart sped up even more. I realised we were both leaning towards each other. It was if there was a magnet in each of us. We both knew we couldn't do this, but neither of us had the power to stop. Our faces were now centimetres apart. One more move from both of us and they would meet.

Suddenly a loud beeping sound echoed through the room. Dimitri and I were broken out of our trance. Well, not completely, I don't think I would ever not want to be kissing Dimitri. He shot up off the bed, as if it had just electrocuted him. He grabbed his phone, which was still beeping annoyingly, and walked into the other room.

I sighed loudly and banged my head against the pillow. I closed for my eyes for a few seconds before opening them again. What had just happened? We were supposed to be ignoring our feelings for each other, but I know we would have kissed if that phone didn't go off. The thing is, I didn't want to ignore these feelings. I wanted to act on them more than anything. But, it was wrong, I wouldn't put Lissa's life in danger like that.

I closed my eyes again, trying to regain control and ignore memory of a few minutes ago. I was so zoned out, that I didn't hear Dimitri coming back in again. "Rose." He snapped. I flinched at the coldness in his voice. It was going to be awkward between us for a while now. I sighed again. "Get up. We need to go."

I nodded. "Okay." I mumbled. Grabbing some clothes, I went to put them on. I decided it was best to lock myself in the bathroom to get changed. I didn't want to make it even worse. I stuffed everything else back into my suitcase and walked past Dimitri, who was sorting things out with that awful receptionist, towards the car. I didn't forget to give her a venom-filled glare when I was walking past however.

Dimitri blanked me as he unlocked the car. I slung my suitcase in the boot and dragged myself to the front seat. I hated when I couldn't speak to Dimitri. Even if we couldn't be together, I still liked to talk to him like a friend.

The car ride was silent and the tension was so thick you could probably cut it with a knife. I tried to make conversation. "Who was on the phone this morning?" I asked, curiously.

"My mother." He responded sharply. I sighed. He wouldn't even answer normal questions. I leaned my head against the seat, trying to forget he was even there. Unfortunately, his presence was too strong.

After a while the awkwardness died down slightly. It was replaced by excitement from Dimitri, who was looking forward to seeing his family, and nervousness from me.

I kept shuffling in my seat and fidgeting with my hands. I was nervous to meet Dimitri's family. It was obvious Dimitri adored them and I expected they adored him too - it was pretty hard not to. I didn't want to have ruined Dimitri's trip by creating tension. I didn't want Dimitri's family to dislike me.

The closer we got, the worse it got. I couldn't sit still. I was either fiddling with the radio, winding the window up and down, or just generally moving about in my seat. We pulled up to a gas station. We must be nearly there. "Do you want anything?" Dimitri asked. He was still using the cold voice with me, but I could hear the excitement he was trying to hide.

I shook my head, not finding the words to speak. Dimitri looked at me properly then. He must have seen something alarming. "Roza? What's wrong with you?" He asked, concerned.

I shook my head again. "Nothing. I'm fine." I tried to convince him.

He wasn't having any of it. "No your not. Your as white as a sheet. What's wrong?" He demanded.

I shook my head again. Before I had time to speak my protests, he had gotten out of the car and moved round to my side. Opening the door, he kneeled next to me. I turned to face him. "Don't even bother to deny it again. I know there is something wrong and I'm not moving until you tell me what it is."

He spoke with certainty, so I knew I wasn't going anywhere soon. "I'm just nervous." I mumbled.

Dimitri looked at me like I was mad. "What have you got to be nervous about?" He asked, incredulously.

"I just don't want to have ruined your holiday. Your looking forward to seeing them so much and me being here just created tension. After what happened this morning you won't even speak to me. It's just making you unhappy when you should be really happy because your going to see your family. You wouldn't be unhappy if I wasn't here." I ranted. I know I had probably repeated the same thing more than once, but I didn't care. I just need to get it all out.

I hadn't realised I was crying until Dimitri reached out and wiped away a few drops on my cheek. "Oh Roza." He whispered. "That's not true. You being here isn't making me unhappy. If anything it is making my trip even better. If you weren't here I would be unhappy, because I would miss you." I smiled at this. He would have missed me too. "And I always wanted you to meet my family." He reasoned with me. I nodded. He did make sense. He pulled me into a hug, which I was surprised about. I leant my head against his chest. "You definitely haven't ruined my trip." He whispered, his mouth just above my ear. I shivered involuntarily.

After a few seconds, he pulled back. "Now, would you really like anything?" He asked.

I laughed. "I need to eat Comrade."

"Come on then." He said, pulling me up. There was a restaurant across from where we pulled up, so we headed there. The sign was in Russian. That was really going to be difficult. At least I had my own personal translator.

We sat down at a table and looked at the menus. They were all in Russian. Typical. "Why can't they just speak English everywhere?" I complained.

Dimitri laughed. I was glad everything was okay between us again. He had completely given up on his guardian mask, so his face lit up with excitement. I loved seeing him this happy. Before he had time to answer, the waiter came over. He looked in his early teens. He spoke in Russian, so I had no idea what he was saying, but he was clearly speaking to me and blanking Dimitri. I looked to Dimitri for help. He said something back in Russian, but I could tell by the tone of his voice that it wasn't complimentary.

It was like the hotel woman all over again, although this time I had no idea what was being said. The boy left and I guessed Dimitri had ordered for me. "What was that about?" I questioned Dimitri.

"What do you mean? You don't even know what I said." He said, trying to avoid the question.

"Come on Comrade, you could be speaking Japanese, but I would still no that you aren't saying something nice when you say it like that." I assured him.

He laughed. "I guess. Let's just say that I had the same problem you did yesterday with that stupid receptionist." He informed me.

"I understand now." I teased. He smiled at me.

Soon the boy came back with out food. Dimitri scowled at him. I almost laughed. Stifling my chuckles, I thanked him, forgetting her didn't speak English. He gave me a confused look, I just ignored him and he left. "You really enjoyed that, didn't you." Dimitri questioned.

"Yes." I chuckled. He laughed and tucked into the food in front of him. I did the same. It was like some kind of pancake. I thought it was best not to ask, seen as though I liked it and didn't want to put myself off.

Once we had finished we set back off towards Baia. When we set off, I was feeling considerably better, but the closer we got, the more nervous I got. I managed to keep my appearance under control this time though. I didn't want Dimitri to worry again. We pulled up outside his house. The village we had driven through wasn't particularly big like the bits of Novosibirsk I had seen driving out of it, but it was still a village and the stereotypes were all wrong. It looked as thought there was a big human population as well as Dhampirs and Moroi.

Dimitri looked ecstatic. The grin on his face was huge as he stepped out of the car. He told me we would get our suitcases after we had said hello. Butterflies were settled in my stomach as we walked towards the door. He knocked once and there was a shout from inside, it was in Russian, so I had no idea what had been said. This was starting to get old. I would have to get Dimitri to teach me Russian.

The door opened and all I heard was a female screech 'Dimka' before launching herself towards him. I stood back and watched, the smile on my face growing by the minute. The minute the girl said Dimka, there were a chorus of screeches from inside the house. The area around Dimitri got more and more crowded as his family came to say hello.

He hugged each one and threw Paul, onto his shoulders. I laughed at him. I had _never _seen Dimitri so happy. It was kind of contagious. A couple of minutes later, Dimitri seemed to remember I was there. "This is my student, Rose." He said pointing at me.

They all turned to look at me. His mother came over and hugged me. "Hello Rose, welcome to our home. I hope you enjoy your stay." She said smiling me.

"Thanks. I'm sure I will. As long as Dimitri doesn't make me run all day." I teased looking at him.

"Rose, you know why you have to run your laps." He told me.

"Yes, but we are on holiday!" I exclaimed. "Well, you are, but its not fair that you get to be on holiday while I have to do a 'training exercise'." I whined.

He smirked. "I might be able to cut it down _slightly._"

I smiled at him. "You're the best Comrade."

He laughed. "Of course I am." I laughed with him.

We went to sit in the room after that. Dimitri sat on the couch between his mother and Viktoria. The rest of his family was split up on two other sofa's. I sat down on a chair and watched with amusement. They all fired questions at him about random things. Some of them were a bit awkward.

"Have you seen Tasha recently?" Olena asked him.

He nodded slowly. "Yes, she came to the Academy for Christmas."

"What did she say?" Viktoria asked excitedly. "Does she still like love you?"

Dimitri flinched slightly. He ignored the second question. "She asked me to be her guardian." He informed her.

I smiled at Dimitri. He had not become her guardian for me. He looked over at me and caught my eyes, he gave me a huge smile. "Did you say yes?" Karolina urged.

Dimitri shook his head. "No."

They all gasped. "Why? You were so good for each other. She _really _likes you, you know." Sonya inquired.

"Because I didn't love her. I couldn't take her offer, when I knew I didn't and never would love her." He said confidently.

I smiled to myself. I was the reason he couldn't love her. "Who is she?" Viktoria demanded. My defences shot up. I knew Dimitri wouldn't say anything, but I was still wary.

"What?" Dimitri asked, feigning innocence.

"Come on Dimka. It's obvious from what your saying that you like someone else." She pushed.

He shook his head. "No one, I just don't love Tasha." He denied. I smirked to myself.

"Rose!" Viktoria turned on me. I almost panicked. "Do you know who it is? You're his student."

Dimitri sent me a look and I smirked at him. "I have no idea." I announced. Yeva gave me a knowing look that kind of scared me. She couldn't know, could she?

Viktoria looked disappointed. "No idea?" She questioned.

I shook my head. "He's far to anti-social to have a girlfriend anyway." I teased.

Dimitri glared at me. "I am not anti-social." He claimed.

I laughed at him. "Yes you are. I am the only person you talk to! Everyone knows it. When me and Lissa first came back to the Academy Mas-" I cut myself off. Grief suddenly filled me.

Dimitri looked at me from across the room. You could see the concern in his eyes. He tried to joke off the tension now in the room. "Didn't he also call me a god?" He teased.

I forced out a laugh. "That statement wasn't as accurate though." Everyone laughed.

Then the conversation topic changed as they fired more comments at him. After a few more discussions, Viktoria turned to me. "So, why are you here Rose? Dimitri never said why he was bringing you with him."

"Kirova said I had to come as a 'training exercise'." I explained.

"How come it was just you? I mean there are tons of novices at your school." Karolina inquired.

"Because I had had experience in the real world." I said bitterly. They looked at me confused. "A couple of weeks ago, my friends went to Spokane to hunt for Strigoi. Me and my best friends boyfriend went after them to stop them from getting caught. Instead they got all five of us."

Everyone in the room gasped. "What did you do?" I could tell they were all hooked to the story now.

"They took us to a basement in a house and tied us up. There were two Moroi, Mia and Christian, and three Dhampir's, me, Eddie and Mason." I flinched at his name. "The two Strigoi, Isaiah and Elena said that the Moroi had a choice. One of them had to become Strigoi by drinking from on of us." Dimitri inclined his head. He didn't know the full story either. He had just walked in to find me leaned over Mason's body, with two dead Strigoi.

"They both refused obviously. But Christian, Tasha's nephew, had practices offensive magic. I hinted to him to use it to break us free."

"Good idea." Sonya nodded.

"He told the humans who were watching us that he wanted to drink from me."

"What?" Viktoria demanded.

I ignored her comment and pressed on with my tale. "He came over and pretended to bite me, while burning the flexi-cuffs I had on."

The all made faces. "Didn't that hurt?" Olena asked.

I nodded. "It killed." I agreed. "We managed to get free and knock the humans out. When we got to the last room in the house, the Strigoi was there. The sun was up and I managed to distract them long enough to get everyone else out."

"But that means you were on your own with the Strigoi and you didn't have a stake? How on Earth did you get out?" Olena inquired.

"Well, Mason came back." I gulped. "But, the Strigoi just killed him instantly." I few tears washed down my face. Viktoria got up and pulled me into a hug. She sat down beside me and I carried on.

"Then Mia came back. She didn't come in the room like Mason did, she blew up the fish tank because she specialized in water. She suffocated him with the water and I managed to get a piece of glass and put it in Isaiah's heart. Then I got a blunt sword from the fire place and chopped Elena then Isaiah's heads off." I finished.

They all looked at me. "That's amazing." Sonya said. I could tell she felt sorry for me, because of Mason, but she was also awed that I managed to kill two Strigoi. "Do you have the marks?"

I nodded. Lifting my hair up, I twisted so everyone could see the two little marks on the back of my neck. I heard a little gasp, then Paul came hurtling towards me. "You're a guardian like Uncle Dimka." He said, bouncing up and down on my lap.

I laughed at him, he was so cute. "Not yet, I will be soon though."

"Wow." He smiled up at me, not making any attempt to move from my lap. Dimitri smiled at me. He was glad I was getting along with is family.

"Come on Rose. Let's go and get our bags."

I followed him out of the house and towards the car. When we got there he turned to me. "Are you okay?" He asked me, concern lacing his words. I nodded, unable to speak. "I didn't know half of those things happened when you were in there."

"It was horrible. It's even worse because it's my fault. It's my fault they went there in the first place. It's my fault Mason came back for me. I told him not to come back for me, but he did anyway. He came back because he loved me. He thought I loved him too. I led him on. I tried to love him Dimitri, I really did, but it was like you and Tasha. I couldn't do it." I ranted on and on.

Tears poured down my face and sobs racked through my body. Dimitri pulled me into a hug. I sobbed into his chest, wetting his shirt. He whispered things in Russian to me, knowing it would help me to calm down. Then he spoke in English. "It's not your fault Roza. You did the best things you could. If you hadn't gone to Spokane after them then all three of them would be dead. Mason made his own decision about coming back for you. You can't blame yourself for that." He tried to console me.

"But I do." I whispered up to him.

He pulled out of the hug, but didn't move very far away from me. He wiped the tears from my face, then tucked a piece of hair behind my ears. "You shouldn't." He whispered back. Then he turned and opened the boot of the car. He grabbed his suitcase and I picked up mine. We walked back into the house.

Everyone eyed Dimitri's wet shirt and my puffy eyes, but didn't mention anything. We walked upstairs where Olena was. "I'm sorry, we only have a double bed left." She told us, while we followed her to a room. Sure enough there was one bed in the middle of the room. I looked up to Dimitri and back at the bed again.

This wasn't going to end well.


	4. Chapter 4

_Next chapter! It's not quite as long and is a bit more boring, but the sexual tension between Rose and Dimitri keeps growing! I already have plans for the next few chapters, I just need to type them up. Thank you for all the reviews and people who have favourited and alerted my story. It is really appreciated. I hope you enjoy this and review!

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Chapter Four…

I looked back at Dimitri. I knew for a fact that he was not going to let me sleep in the same bed as him again after this mornings incident. His mother left the room and Dimitri turned to me. "I will sleep on the floor." He said firmly.

I didn't even bother to argue. I knew it would get me nowhere. I just nodded to him and set the suitcase down on the bed. The time difference was still affecting me and I felt extremely tired. I yawned. Looking at Dimitri, I knew he was tired as well. "Are you going to bed?" I asked.

"Yes. We need to get used to a human schedule, so we should be going to bed about now anyway." He informed me. I nodded and went to find my big t-shirt.

I got changed in the bathroom while Dimitri had the bedroom. Once I had slipped on my t-shirt, I walked back out. My eyes widened slightly when I saw that he was only wearing pajama bottoms. It reminded me of the night of the lust charm. He caught me staring and raised an eyebrow at me. I blushed slightly, but said nothing, just walking over to the bed instead.

I felt guilty seeing Dimitri lying on the floor, clearly more uncomfortable than me. I didn't ask if he wanted to swap, already knowing the answer. I decided to go into Lissa's head instead. It was the first time I had really thought about her since getting here, which I felt mildly guilty about, so I decided I ought to find out how she is coping. "I'm just going to invade Lissa's privacy." I told Dimitri. "So I might be out of it for a bit."

He chuckled. "I wondered how long it would be before you did." He mused.

I just shook my head at him and focused on the bond. It was the beginning of the school day there, so they were in the commons eating breakfast. Adrian, Eddie, Lissa and Christian all sat around the normal table. Lissa looked and felt miserable. "I miss her." She said simply.

Everyone, even Christian, nodded. "Me too." Adrian said. "I'm planning on getting into her dreams when she goes to sleep though." He informed the table. I groaned mentally. I did not want Adrian interrupting the sleep I so badly needed.

"I'm sure she will _love _that." Christian said sarcastically.

"It doesn't matter whether she will or not. I'm still going to do it." He retorted stubbornly.

"If she hits you in the dream will it show in real life?" Eddie asked, half joking, half serious.

The whole table laughed. "I'm sure we will find out." Christian joked.

Lissa just sat through the whole thing. She really did miss me a lot. She wished _she _could be the one who could dream walk so that _she_ could see me. Christian wrapped an arm around her, sensing her distress.

"She'll be having a great time Liss." He told her. "Don't get upset because she's not here. Try and make the most of living without her annoying comments. That's exactly what I am doing." Like normal, Christian had made her feel better.

Although I was happy she was happier, I couldn't help the jealousy that rose in my stomach. _I _used to be the one that made her feel better. I tried to ignore the feeling and concentrate on what was happening. Unfortunately, something pulled me out of her head and I was back in Dimitri's room. He was shaking my shoulders.

"You really should get some rest Rose." He prompted me. "How is the princess?"

"She's fine. She just misses me." I said truthfully. "She's got _Christian_ to comfort her though." I couldn't quite stop the bitterness seeping into my words.

Dimitri looked at me, confused. "Why do you hate him so much?"

I sighed. "I don't _hate _him. He just annoys me. He's good for Lissa though. I shouldn't let it bother me as much as it does." I admitted.

Dimitri nodded, I could tell her wanted to press it further, but he decided against it - something I was grateful for. "Adrian said he was going to come and visit my dreams tonight." Dimitri stiffened and I couldn't help but smile mentally that he was jealous. "So, if I start punching things in my sleep, you know why." I joked.

Dimitri laughed. "You know, I wont be stopping you." He teased.

I gasped in fake shock. "Are you telling me you would allow me to beat up a _Royal Moroi_ in some weird dream world?" I asked.

"Adrian? Then yes."

I laughed at him. "He's not that bad. He's just annoying."

"Definitely annoying." Dimitri agreed. "Now come on, get some sleep. We have training tomorrow."

I groaned. "Comrade." I whined.

"Don't even bother." He cut me off. "You will train whether you like it or not."

"You better not wake me up early then." I warned. "Night Comrade."

"Night Roza." He said softly, before I felt my eyelids begin to droop.

The blackness of my dream faded and I found myself stood in the commons at the Academy. I hadn't changed from what I wore to bed. I was actually wishing he had bothered to make me wear something different this time. My outfit was slightly more revealing than I wanted to show Adrian. I didn't mind Dimitri checking me out though. "Adrian." I called out, knowing he was around he somewhere.

"Hello Little Dhampir." He welcomed from behind me. I turned around to face him. His eyes trailed up and down my body. I glared at him. "Nice outfit." He smirked. "Are you wearing that to bed?" He asked.

"Yes. I don't see how it is your concern."

"Are you in the same room as the cradle robber?"

"Yes." I said sheepishly.

"Please don't tell me your stuck in the same bed."

I laughed. "Not tonight."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I was last night." I explained.

Adrian's eyes widened at me and I could see the jealousy in them. "How come? I didn't think Belikov would exactly warm to that idea."

"We had to stay in a hotel and there was only one room available." I explained.

He shook his head disbelievingly. "Didn't he at least sleep on the couch?" He said exasperatedly.

"No. I wouldn't let him." Adrian raised an eyebrow. "It was like twice as small as him! I said I would sleep on it instead, but he wouldn't let me. So, we both went in the bed." I told him. I wasn't exactly sure why I had to explain all this to Adrian, but I couldn't be bothered to argue with him. Also, he wasn't flirting with me, so I was happy to keep this our conversation topic.

"How come you are in the same room then? I thought you would be sharing with one of his sisters."

"Well. There was only one bed left."

Adrian interrupted me. "One bed? I thought you said you weren't sleeping in the same bed tonight?"

"I'm not. Dimitri is sleeping on the floor. There is no way he was going to sleep in the same bed as me after what happened this morning."

"What happened this morning?"

I sighed. I really shouldn't have mentioned that. "Well in our sleep we kind of got nearer to each other and then when we woke up we almost kissed, but then his phone went off." I said quickly.

Jealousy flashed in Adrian's eyes, but he had asked me to tell him, so he couldn't really complain. Then, he smirked at me. "You know, I bet you are together by the end of this holiday." He predicted.

I snorted. "We both know that isn't going to happen." I contradicted.

Adrian shook his head. "Do you want to put a bet on it?" He challenged.

"Okay, what are you asking for?" I said, confidently. I knew I was going to win this. Dimitri would never loosen up his self control. I think we both knew that really.

"A kiss." He said firmly, stepping closer towards me. "And if you win, I will stop harassing you." He offered.

I stepped closer to him and he held out his hand. I shook it. "Deal." I announced.

Adrian smirked. I wonder how he was going to keep himself from flirting and harassing me. "I can't wait until I win." I mused. "No more annoying comments and flirting."

"And I can't wait for my kiss." He teased, until he began to fade. "Your waking up. Have _fun_ with the cradle robber." I glared at his disintegrating figure, catching the double meaning in his words.

I woke up to rays of sunshine coming through the window. I looked down to the floor to see Dimitri had already left, he must be downstairs. I pulled on some short shorts and a tank top that I usually trained in and went to pull my hair up into a pony tail that showed off my marks.

As I walked down the stairs the strong smell of food hit me. It was only now that I realised how starving I was. When I got to the kitchen, Dimitri was sat down eating. When she heard me come in, Olena brought me some more of those Russian pancakes. Dimitri was eating the same thing. I grinned and thanked her. While I gobbled down the food, Dimitri watched me with an amused expression. "Never seen a woman eat before Comrade?" I teased.

He just shook his head at me amused. When I had finished, he stood up. I followed suit. I noticed how his eyes trailed over my body. I felt a slight bush spreading over my face. "Time for running." He said cheerily. I swear he was just doing it to annoy me.

I groaned, just as Viktoria came down the stairs. "Hey Rose." She said groggily. I could tell she had only just woken up. "How do you get up so early?"

I laughed. "He had been forcing me to get up hours before everyone else for ages now." I said, gesturing to Dimitri.

Viktoria laughed. Then she looked at me more closely. "Do you always train in stuff like that. I'm surprised Dimka doesn't have a heart attack."

I blushed slightly and laughed. I didn't comment back though. "Come on Rose. It's time to run."

"Yay." I said sarcastically.

"I don't know how you put up with it." Viktoria sympathised. I laughed at her and followed Dimitri out so I could run with him. We didn't run for to long, which I was pleased about. When we got back to the house, everyone else was awake. They greeted us as we walked back in.

"Time to spar." Dimitri announced. He led me round to the back garden where there were some sparring mats laid out.

Paul ran up to us. "I want to watch Uncle Dimka and Rose fight!" He pleaded with us, looking up at us with his brown eyes and his hands clasped together in front of his face. He looked like a miniature version of Dimitri. It was so sweet.

Karolina shook her head at him. "Dimitri and Rose need to train properly, they don't need you interfering." She told him.

I shook my head. "I don't mind." I told her. I knew having Paul around would loosen Dimitri up, plus he looked so cute!

"You can all watch if you want." He offered. They all looked eager. I doubted they ever got to see Dimitri fight. "I always win though."

I scowled at him. "Well you have had seven years more practice." I reasoned.

He laughed. "Are you sure you don't mind?" Olena asked.

"I don't care whether he does or not. I'm watching now." Viktoria confirmed. I laughed at her as me and Dimitri stood opposite each other on the mats.

They all crowded round us in a circle but not close enough to get hurt. They were silent as we prepared to attack each other. We circled, weighing up our options. Suddenly, Dimitri punched out towards my arm. I blocked and sent a kick towards his stomach. It hit the mark and he staggered back but regained control, not giving me anytime attack again.

We circled each other some more. As we both feinted and landed blows on each other, I took into consideration how much I knew about his fighting techniques. I had been training with him for a couple of months now. I knew what to expect. It made the fight trickier as I now anticipated his moves. I knew he was also using his knowledge about me against me.

We were both growing tired now, but I refused to give in. Soon, I saw an opening. I faked left, then kicked his stomach hard. He stumbled and I punched him hard. He fell to the ground. I pinned him down, straddling his waist and then brought my hands down over his heart, fake staking him.

My hands rested on his chest as I tried to catch my breath. I gazed into his eyes, seeing the pride and lust showing in them. Neither of us attempted to move and I wanted nothing more than to lean down and kiss him. Just as I began to lean forward, a hand came down to help me up. Although I didn't want to, I grabbed Viktoria's outstretched hand and she pulled me up.

"Wow! You kicked my brothers ass." She congratulated me.

I turned to Dimitri. "Yeah, how does it feel to be beaten by a seventeen year old girl novice Comrade?"

He chuckled. "You are hardly like the other seventeen year old girl novices Roza."

I looked into his eyes and saw the double meaning in his words. I smiled at him. "I still beat you though, for the first time ever!" I cheered, extremely proud of myself. I knew Dimitri was pleased with me as well. I could tell just by the way he was looking at me.

He grinned. "It won't happen again."

"Of course it will. I will be kicking your ass all the time now."

The bickering continued and everyone just watched on amused. Eventually we began to get hungry again and went back inside for lunch.

I spent some time with Viktoria. She took me to meet some of her friends and we went shopping. She was really fun and we were already becoming really good friends. When it was bed time, we settled down in our sleeping areas. Dimitri was shirtless again and I couldn't help but ogle him for a few minutes. I fell asleep staring at his back.

I knew I was going to have good dreams tonight.


	5. Chapter 5

_Next chapter... I was going to put a Strigoi attack in anyway because I had an idea about it. Thanks for the reviews and I hope you enjoy this chapter :)_

_Should I put Abe into this story or not?_

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Chapter Five…

I gasped as he trailed kissed along my jaw line. Eventually his mouth found mine in a passionate kiss and our tongues tangled. My skin tingled as his hand ran down my side to rest on my hip. I twisted my hands into his hair and pulled him even closer. His mouth left mine and moved towards my breast. "Christian." I moaned as he got nearer.

Wait. _Christian. _I suddenly realised what had happened. I had been pulled into Lissa's head during one of her encounters with Christian. I knew I needed to get out, but she was making it so damn hard. I was vaguely managing get back into my own head and I could see parts of my room. I saw Dimitri fast asleep on the floor and that image alone was enough to get me out.

_Dimitri. _I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. I could still feel Lissa's excitement, joy and love through the bond and it was making me feel sick. Sick and sad. I looked back down to Dimitri's sleeping figure. He looked so peaceful without his guardian mask that was normally plastered all over his face. I wanted very much to just go and lie with him, forgetting about all my problems. I resisted the urge though.

I peeled the covers off myself and stepped over Dimitri. Slowly opening the door, I exited the room stealthily. I slipped down the hall past everyone else's rooms. Years of sneaking out of my room came in handy right now. When I got downstairs, I walked out into the back garden.

It was dark out and it felt weird to be out in the dark when I knew I should be sleeping. Normally it would be bright and sunny. I spotted a big tree and moved towards it. Sliding my back down against the bark, my bum reached the floor. I wrapped my arms around my knees and rested my head against them.

I was still focusing on my mental walls just in case, but that kept me constantly aware of what was happening. The feelings of bitterness and jealousy grew within me. How could they be so selfish? They were being all lovey-dovey with each other, while I was stuck in Russia with the person I love, not being able to do anything.

I knew I shouldn't be feeling this towards my best friend, but somehow I couldn't help it. Lissa would always get whatever she wanted in her life, whereas I would get nothing. I knew it wasn't her fault, but I still resented her for it.

I didn't realise I had tears running down my face, until a sob escaped my throat. I hugged my knees tighter as another one racked through my body. Soon, I saw a figure walked towards me. Dimitri kneeled down in front of me, concern showing clearly on his face.

He sat down beside me, looking down at me. "Roza." He said softly.

I just sobbed harder and moved closer to him, burying my face in his chest. His arms enveloped me in a hug. He just and held me until I calmed down, not saying a word.

When the sobs had stopped coming, I didn't want to move from his arms. I felt safe and warm. Like I was meant to be there. Dimitri pulled me back slightly, so he could look at my face, but didn't remove his arms. "What's wrong Roza?" He asked. "What happened?"

I shook my head. I couldn't find the words to tell him. I didn't want him to think I was overreacting about something so small. "You can tell me." He whispered. "Did you have a nightmare?"

I chuckled slightly. "You could call it that."

He looked at me, confused. "What do you mean?"

"I got pulled into Lissa's head." I elaborated.

"Is she okay?" He asked.

"Oh she's _fine._" I said bitterly. "She's _with _Christian."

Understanding flashed in Dimitri's eyes and he pulled me back closer to his body. "That must be hard for you."

"It's horrible." I whispered. "It's bad enough that I have to see them all lovey-dovey with each other, but having to _feel _it. Its even worse. She can have whatever she wants and its so unfair. I will never get that freedom. I'm jealous Dimitri." I explained.

I rested my head on his chest when I had finished and his arms tightened around me. "I'm so sorry Rose." He told me, his chin rested on my head while he spoke. "I didn't realise. It must be awful to have to deal with that when you are in this situation."

"I know its not her fault, but I cant help resenting her for it."

"That's okay. You cant help it." He said gently.

We didn't say anything for a few more minutes, and i felt tiredness come over me again. Dimitri seemed to notice this and began murmuring in Russian to me. It always soothed me and today was no exception. I quickly drifted off, content to be sleeping in Dimitri's embrace.

When I woke up, I was wrapped in Dimitri's arms. We had moved to the bed I had been sleeping in, but Dimitri had apparently decided to join me in it today. I snuggled against him and he smiled in his sleep. I didn't have the heart to wake him up, so I just enjoyed being close to him.

Beginning to get uncomfortable from being in the same position for a while, I shifted slightly. Unfortunately, it was enough to wake Dimitri up and his eyes fluttered open. "Morning Comrade." I grinned.

He smiled back. "Morning Roza." Then his face turned a bit more serious. "Are you okay now?" He asked.

I nodded. "I think I was just tired and it made it worse you know." I explained. He nodded, understanding like normal. "Thanks for being there though." I thanked him.

He smiled at me. "I'm always here for you Rose." He told me sincerely. I could tell he meant it.

"Thanks." I said again.

He unravelled his arms from around me. I don't think he realised they were still there when he had woken up. After getting up, he turned to me. "Running time." He announced smirking.

I groaned. "You know what, I have decided I'm not alright. I need to stay here and do nothing." I teased.

He walked back towards the bed and pulled me up. "I don't think so." He whispered in my ear when he had pulled me towards him. I shivered slightly at the close contact and he chuckled. "Get dressed and then meet me downstairs for some breakfast." He instructed before turning to leave.

I took my time, having a long shower and then dressing in my short shorts and top. I sauntered downstairs to find Dimitri and Karolina sat at the table. They didn't look like they had eaten yet, so I took my seat next to Dimitri. Him and Karolina were talking fluently in Russian. I just looked at them with a confused look on my face. When they had finished, I turned to Dimitri. "You are going to have to teach me Russian." I told him.

He laughed. "You would never have the patience to learn a language Rose."

"Just teach me the swear words you seem to use so often around me then." I bargained.

Karolina laughed. "Dimka, you never swear!" She exclaimed. Then she turned to me. "You must be really bad."

"I'm not that bad. I'm just good at working on his self-control." I teased.

I knew Dimitri had heard the double meaning in my words and that I wasn't just talking about his self control when it came to being angry. "Yeah. You definitely test my self-control." He muttered.

I smirked at him. "I've decided you don't have to run today." He informed me.

I grinned at him. "You've finally seen the light Comrade." I teased.

"We are going to practice staking instead." He said, his voice smug. He knew I hated doing this as much as running. My favourite was sparring with him, for the right and wrong reasons.

I groaned. "Why?" I moaned. "Can't we just spar."

He shook his head and passed me a stake, then walked round to the back yard where a dummy was set up. I really hated those things. Before we could get started, a wave of nausea came over me.

I bent over, wondering why I suddenly felt to sick. Dimitri saw me and was at my side in an instant. "What's wrong Roza?" He asked.

Before I had chance to answer, three pairs of red eyes appeared. It was still dark, because we were slightly off schedule. Dimitri revealed his own stake and moved away from me slightly, giving me space to fight.

Just as he moved, two of the Strigoi leapt at him, the other one going for me. I quickly got into a defensive crouch and waited for him to initiate the fight.

Dangerously fast, he lunged at me, aiming a kick to my arm. I managed to dodge it barely and regain my stance before he attacked again. This time, I dodged neatly and shot out a kick at him when he wasn't expecting it. Gripping my stake, I shoved it into the precise spot I had been practising hitting. He crumpled to the floor, his eyes lifeless.

I turned to Dimitri, seeing he had killed one and was fighting the other still. The next few moments went in slow motion.

I saw the Strigoi reach out and take Dimitri head between his hands. I instantly knew what he was about to do. He was going to snap Dimitri's neck. Just like Mason. "NO!" I shrieked, catching the Strigoi momentarily off guard. In the second that I had, I manoeuvred the stake and stabbed it through the Strigoi's back.

Just as it fell to the floor, it whispered out some words. "We will get you Rosemarie Hathaway."

Ignoring what the Strigoi said completely, I looked up to Dimitri. I could see the relief and gratitude in his eyes as he looked at me. I did the only thing possible. I burst into tears.

Dimitri enveloped me in his arms and crushed me to his chest. He murmured things in Russian to me. I could see the rest of his family gradually making there way out to see what was happening. I knew Karolina had seen the whole thing. She had also raised and eyebrow when she heard what Dimitri was saying in Russian, but I decided to ignore that.

"Oh my god." I choked out. "It was just like Mason…but worse."

Dimitri guided me back to the house and sat me down on the sofa. Just as he was about to get back up again, I grabbed his shirt and pulled him down. "Don't go."

He nodded and sat down next to me. I snuggled into his side and he put his arms around me. I still had tears running down my face, as I processed what had just happened. "Come on Roza." He told me. "Why don't you go to bed." He offered.

I just nodded. Dimitri picked me up in his arms and carried me to the bedroom. He set me down on the bed and then himself opposite me. I had stopped crying now, but was pretty shaken up still.

Dimitri grabbed my hands and held them in his own. "Thank you Rose." He told me, gazing into my eyes.

I smiled. "It's okay. When I saw you, he had your head between his hands and I knew he was going to break your neck. I just acted on instinct. I couldn't lose you Dimitri." I said the last bit in a whisper.

It was true though. I had been devastated when Mason died, but the only reason I even started to be better again is because of Dimitri. He was the one who helped me through all of this. I loved him and I couldn't imagine life without him.

"When I lost Mason, I was really hurt. But I know it was nothing compared to how I would feel if I lost you Dimitri."

Dimitri pulled me closer to him so our foreheads were almost touching. "I love you." He said simply, before bringing his lips to mine.

The kiss was soft and gentle, but it still showed me how much he really did love me. I pulled away briefly. "I love you too." I whispered, before reattaching my mouth to his.

This kiss was stronger and more passionate. It held all the love that we had been keeping bottled up for so long. His hands rested on my hips and brought me closer, pushing my body completely up against him. I automatically brought my arms up around his neck, deepening the kiss even further.

He laid me down on the bed, hovering over me, then kissing me again. It was, if possible, even more urgent than before and I knew that this time we were going to finish what should have happened the night of the lust charm.

I wrapped my legs around his waist and rolled us over so I was no straddling him. Dimitri grabbed the bottom of my shirt and pulled it up and over my head. Soon the rest of our clothes followed and we were lying naked. Dimitri hovered over me. "Are you sure you want this?" He asked.

I nodded. "I want this more than anything." I told him honestly.

As soon as I said that, he lost his control and pushed himself into me.


	6. Chapter 6

_SORRY IT TOOK ME SO LONG TO UPDATE! I have been really busy lately and it was my brothers birthday yesterday. I have made this chapter extra long to make up for it. The longest chapter I have EVER written! _

_There is a cliff-hanger at the end! I hope I haven't left you hating me too much :P_

_Thanks for all the reviews! I got the most for a chapter last time they were excellent. Please review and tell me what you think this time as well.

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Chapter Six…

I woke up to the door opening and then a small gasp. I snuggled myself into Dimitri's chest further and his arms automatically tightened around me. "Go away. Don't make me get up." I whined.

Viktoria walked up to the bed and pulled the covers down. She gasped again and I remembered we were only in out underwear. It's a good job we at least put those on. Dimitri woke up when the cold air hit him and brought me even closer to him. "What did you do that for?" He asked Viktoria.

"Well, I was trying to get Rose up, but I wasn't expecting her to be cuddling to you in her _underwear._" She told him.

Dimitri laughed. I had turned around to face her now. She looked a mix between shocked and happy. "Can I have the covers back now." I whinged, reaching down for them.

"Yes, but only because I don't want to see my brother in his boxers." She said shuddering. I laughed at her. "Now hurry up and get downstairs. You guys have some serious explaining to do.

She left the room and I turned around to face Dimitri, unsure of what I would see. After all this time stopping ourselves from giving into each other, we finally had and I didn't know how Dimitri would feel about it now.

He was grinning widely. Definitely a good sign. His arms which were still wrapped around me pulled me even closer to him. He brought one hand to my cheek then leant in a kissed me gently. I smiled against his lips and kissed him back.

"Come on. We should get up. I have a feeling Viktoria is going to have a _lot _of questions." He advised me.

I laughed and reluctantly undid myself from his warm embrace. I went to grab some new clothes and underwear and Dimitri did the same. Once we were dressed I turned back to him. "What happens now?" I asked quietly.

Dimitri moved closer and put his arms around my waist, holding me close. "We have to keep this a secret until graduation." He said. I already knew that really, but it was still kind of disappointing.

"Why did you lose control?" I asked. I had been dying to know the answer to this. After the all the trouble we had been through, denying each other our feelings. Why now?

"When the Strigoi had me," I shuddered at the memory. "I looked at your face and I could see the love in your eyes. It made me realise how much I really did love you. If something like that ever happened again and one of us didn't make it, I wanted to make sure that I had shown you how much I did love you."

I had a stray tear running down my face when he had finished. "I love you." I whispered. "So much."

He bent down to kiss me and I hooked my arms around his neck, his lips meeting mine. Our lips moved in sync for a couple of minutes until we heard a little squeak from the door. I turned round to see Paul looking gob smacked in the doorway. His mouth hung open and his eyes were wide. He looked at us once more and then scooted away again. I could hear him charging down the stairs. I laughed gently.

"We should go downstairs now." Dimitri said quietly. I nodded and followed him downstairs to where the rest of his family were. We walked into the kitchen to see Paul talking to Olena.

"Grandma, why was Uncle Dimka kissing Rose?" He asked. Olena, who was absentmindedly wiping a plate dropped it, causing it to shatter. "Is it because they love each other?"

Before Olena could answer him, Dimitri did. "Yes it is Paul." He wrapped an arm around me as Olena turned around startled.

She looked and Dimitri and me, standing comfortably together. She continued to look utterly shocked, until it softened into a smile. "You two have a lot of explaining to do."

We laughed. "We know. Viktoria has already told us that." I informed her. "That's why we came downstairs actually."

"Can you get everyone into the living room please?" Dimitri asked Olena. She nodded and we headed towards a sofa where Viktoria was already sat.

I was about to sit down when Dimitri pulled me onto his lap instead. I shrugged and relaxed into him. Viktoria rolled her eyes at us. "How did I not notice this before." She muttered. Me and Dimitri chuckled and I felt his chest move slightly underneath me.

Then the door opened and Sonya walked in. "Mama said you wanted to se-" She stopped abruptly when he eyes landed on me sitting on Dimitri's laps. "I guess I know what you wanted to talk about." She said, going to sit on the sofa across from us.

Next Karolina walked in with Paul. "Well this explains a lot." She said chuckling. "Your average mentor doesn't generally go around telling there student _'It's okay. I'm here. I love you so much Roza.'_ even if it is in a language they cant understand."

I laughed. "You are seriously going to have to teach me Russian Comrade." I teased.

"You know it isn't going to happen." He replied. I pouted and he laughed more.

Next Yeva came in. She eyed how we were sitting then smiled slightly. "I see you have finally done what's right." She said mysteriously, sitting down next to Karolina.

Olena joined her and now the whole family were seated in the living room. "Start talking." Viktoria ordered.

They all looked at us expectantly. "Where shall we start?" I asked.

"The beginning."

"Okay. Well. Me and my best friend Lissa Dragomir ran away from the academy for two years ago." I began.

"You ran away with the last Dragomir?" Karolina gasped.

I nodded. Then I hesitated. Should I tell them about the bond? I guess it wouldn't harm anything. "We have a bond."

They all looked at me wide eyed. "What do you mean?" Olena asked.

"I can hear and feel what she feels." I explained. "I was in the car with her parents when we died."

"_We _died?" Olena questioned, clearly thinking I had said my words wrong.

"Yes. I died." Everyone eyed me as if I was mad. "Lissa specialized in spirit. It is the rarest element and it means she can heal things and use compulsion over Moroi and Dhampir's as well as humans. She brought me back to life without realising it in the car crash. That's when the bond formed. She made me shadow-kissed."

"That's amazing." Sonya exclaimed, slightly awestruck. "Why did you run away then?" She asked.

"Using spirit messes with your head. After she brought me back to life she began to get really depressed and cut herself. She used to be paranoid and think things were following her at the Academy. I got her out, because I thought that it was the right thing to do, to get her away from everything. I know now how stupid it was, but I honestly thought it was best at the time." I admitted.

Being back at the Academy had made me realise just how stupid I had been. I had definitely made Lissa more of a target and my lack of skills had meant she would never have been protected. "You thought you were doing what was best. Don't blame yourself. Nothing bad happened." Dimitri whispered to me.

I turned round to give him a quick peck. "Thanks." I mouthed back.

"We were on the run for two years."

"You managed to escape for that long?" Viktoria asked incredulously.

"Yes. Then Dimitri came and brought us back to the Academy, with eleven other guardians." I told them.

"Dimitri was the one to bring you back? Didn't you like hate him?" Viktoria asked.

I laughed. "I did at first. Kirova was going to expel me, but Dimitri noticed the bond and convinced her to let me stay. Victor Dashkov helped to convince her to let us stay. He was like Lissa's uncle before we left, but he had Sandovsky's Syndrome so he was going to die shortly. Kirova agreed eventually, but Dimitri had to mentor me, because I was rubbish."

"You can't have been that bad." Sonya disagreed.

"Oh, she was." Dimitri contradicted her.

I swatted his arm teasingly. "Hey! I can totally beat you now though."

"Only because of my awesome teachings." He teased back. I laughed then turned back to the rest of the group who were clearly wanting to listen to the rest of our story - not tease each other.

"Someone started putting dead animals for Lissa to find, but we didn't know why." I carried on.

They all looked horrified. "That's disgusting. Why would someone do something like that?"

"It will come later in our story." I replied vaguely.

Dimitri felt it was time to come in with a part of the story himself. "The first animal was a fox with it's throat slit on Lissa's bed." He told them. They all looked even more horrified than before. If that was possible. "A couple of days after that, I found Rose making out with some guy in an abandoned lounge."

I groaned. "Did you really have to mention that?" I asked. "Making out with Jesse wasn't exactly one of my finer moments." He chuckled. "I just feel sorry for Mia. Even if she technically chose to do it, sleeping with Jesse and _Ralf _can't exactly have been fun for her."

Dimitri looked shocked. "Your kidding me. How did you know she slept with both of them and why did she do it?"

"She did it so that they would start the rumour about me. Mason found out and told me the night of the dance. Then he told everyone else."

Viktoria gaped at me. "Someone slept with two people just so that they would start a rumour about you! She must have _really _hated you and it must have been a _really _bad rumour."

"She did. The rumour was that I slept with Jesse and Ralf and let them drink my blood." I shivered slightly. "She did hate me, but we're friends now." I said smiling.

"You're friends with someone who spread a rumour like that." She questioned.

I just nodded and responded with, "I will explain later."

"So Dimitri came in and found me making out with Jesse. He kicked Jesse out really scarily, Jesse was practically pooing his pants. It was so funny." I laughed remembering it. "Then Dimitri told me he would add extra hours onto my training because we didn't have enough time for him to teach me how to fight properly."

Dimitri nodded, agreeing with everything I had said. "Then you started getting really good and beating everyone in practice." I chuckled.

"Then Jesse and Ralf started the blood whore rumours, so I was really down for a while. Lissa discovered that it was Mia who had persuaded them to do it, we didn't know how until later though. She started to use compulsion on the royals to ignore Mia and steal her friends from her. She said she was doing it to protect me, but it scared me because the more she used her magic, the more depressed she got." I explained.

"I can't believe no one even realised she was using that much compulsion." Dimitri mused.

"Christian did."

"Who's Christian?" Olena asked.

"Christian Ozera. It's Tasha's nephew. Him and Lissa liked each other, but I never liked him, so I told Christian Lissa didn't like him." I said guiltily.

"Is that was you meant the night after the reception when you were talking to him while I dragged you back to your dorm?" Dimitri questioned.

I nodded. "I can't believe what a bitch I was." Before anyone had time to comment again, I carried on with the story. "Someone kept leaving dead animals for Lissa until one day we went on a shopping trip."

"We needed to buy dresses for the dance, so Lissa got us permission. I bought this awesome dress." I smiled at Dimitri.

"Definitely an awesome dress." I laughed as he remembered it and a slightly lusty expression crept onto his face.

"When we were back at the school, I jumped on the bench, but it was rotted so I broke my ankle."

"I carried to the infirmary because she was screaming like a mad woman." I chuckled. "But when Lissa sat next to her she calmed down."

"I didn't work it out straight away, but Lissa had healed me. While we were shopping, Victor Dashkov got me a necklace and Dimitri got me some lip gloss." I smiled at the memory. I could still remember why he said he got it for me. Because he thought it would make me happy.

"What happened next?" Karolina pushed.

"After Lissa had healed me, she cut herself really bad. I always promised her I wouldn't tell anyone about it, but she was unconscious, so I told Dimitri. Then she fell out with me because I told him."

"It was the right thing to do you know. You should have told me earlier." Dimitri assured me.

"I know." I responded. "That night was the dance. I decided I wasn't going to go, but then Mason came and found me and persuaded me to go. I had on the dress and the necklace that Victor bought me."

"When we got to the dance, Mason took me over to Jesse and Ralf." It took a lot not to flinch when I said Mason's name each time. "He got them to admit that Mia slept with them both to spread the rumour. Then I felt distress coming from Lissa through the bond. I went over and Mia had somehow found out about Lissa cutting herself. I punched her and broke her nose."

Viktoria cheered. "Eventually. She had it coming."

"If you hadn't have beaten up a Moroi, I would have said it was a good punch." Dimitri congratulated me.

"The guardians took me back to my room and said they would deal with me in the morning. Then I got sucked into her head."

"What do you mean 'sucked into her head'?"

"It's like I'm in her skin. Seeing through her eyes." I tried to explain. It was kind of hard to describe to someone who had never done it. They nodded, but I had a feeling they were still slightly confused. "She was in the church attic with Christian. Some guardians were there, they knocked Christian out and kidnapped Lissa."

"Who would do something like that!" Sonya cried.

"Oh, you'll find out in a minute." I said bitterly. "I'm sure you will be as surprised as we were." I added.

"After they took Lissa, I was pulled back into my own head. I couldn't remember what had happened to Lissa, all I knew was that I had to go to Dimitri."

"Why couldn't you remember? It's like someone had used compulsion on you." Karolina tried to work out.

"Almost." I told her. "Basically, when I went to Dimitri's room, we made out for a while and then, well, we were about to…" I blushed and everyone looked shocked. "Dimitri took the necklace I was wearing off. It was kind of like I was waking up. I still couldn't remember, but I knew something was wrong with Lissa."

"I managed to get the necklace out of the window. Then Rose remembered everything and could use the bond again. We ran downstairs and told everyone else."

"They got Christian out of the attic and we set off to go and find Lissa. We told people that it was a violence charm on the necklace, but really it was a lust charm."

"I cant believe someone put a lust charm on you and Dimitri." Viktoria said, shaking her head.

I laughed. "I wasn't complaining that much."

Dimitri chuckled from behind. "Me neither."

They all looked amused at us. "I looked in the bond and recognised Victor Dashkov's guardians that had captured her."

There was a collective gasp from around the room. "The old sick guy kidnapped her? Why?"

"He wanted her to heal him. That's why the animals were there, he wanted her to heal them. Rose's ankle as well. That was for her to heal. I bet someone used earth magic on the bench." Yeva spoke for the first time.

I looked at her incredulously. She had figured it out in minutes and it had to actually happen to me for me to work it out. "Exactly." I told her. "It was Victor's daughter Natalie who did the animals and rotted the bench. Victor did the charm."

"I tuned into the bond, to see where they were going. Lissa pulled me in completely then. Victor was asking her to heal him and she refused. Then he got this air user to torture her with his magic. Because I was in her head, I got tortured as well. Eventually she gave in and healed him."

They all look horrified. "That's terrible." Olena said, sympathetically.

"I was driving when she suddenly started screaming and sobbing. I wanted to pull over but she told me to keep going because we had to get to Lissa." He turned to me. "You always manage to put her before yourself." He said admiringly.

"It's the way it has to be." I said, smiling sadly. "When we got to where they were holding her, all the guardians went to go and get her, but she had used compulsion on the guard she had and escaped. I was going to go and find her, but then Christian spoke. Turned out he had hidden in the boot because he was in love with Lissa. We both went off to find her. Some PSI hounds came after us and almost killed Christian. I managed to kill two, then Alberta came and finished them off. Lissa was too weak to heal Christian, so I let her bite me so she could."

"You let her bite you?" Viktoria asked shocked.

I nodded. "When we ran away I was the one who fed her, because we didn't have any feeders." I said, a little embarrassed. "We went as long as we could before feedings so that I didn't have marks on my neck though."

"That's amazing of you. I don't know if I could ever do that for anyone. Your like the best friend ever." She exclaimed.

I laughed. "When we got back to the Academy everything went back to normal. Kirova let me off and I taken off house arrest. I hadn't seen Dimitri since though because he cancelled our practices. When I did see him, he told me he didn't see me like that and that it was only because of the charm." I said, glaring at Dimitri slightly.

"DIMKA!" They all screeched at him. "Why did you do that? It obviously wasn't true."

"I thought I was doing the right thing." He tried to defend himself.

"So I went to see Victor Dashkov. He told me that there had to be mutual attraction for the charm to work. Then Natalie came. She was a Strigoi." There was another collective gasp. "She set Victor free then came after me. She was about to kill me when Dimitri came and staked her. While he was taking me to the infirmary, I asked him about what Victor said. He told me it was true, but we couldn't be together because we were both going to be Lissa's guardian and that he would throw himself in front of me instead of her if he let himself love me."

I twisted my head to face Dimitri and gave him a quick peck on the lips. That line always tugged at my heart. "What are you going to do then, about Lissa?" Sonya asked.

"I'm going to be reassigned." Dimitri said. When he saw there shocked faces he added. "It's the only thing I can do."

I still felt guilty and I think Dimitri sensed it. He tightened his arms around me and I relaxed against him. "After that we managed to stay away from each other. Until one day at practice I was really annoyed. My mother had given me a black eye."

"Your mother gave you a black eye?" Karolina asked. "Who is your mother?"

"Janine Hathaway." I said quietly.

They all gaped at me. "Your Janine Hathaway's daughter?" I nodded. "Woah."

"So anyway, I was really annoyed, so I kissed Dimitri, he told me not to do it again and then we didn't talk much over Christmas. Christmas is when Tasha came. I decided to try and be with Mason and Dimitri did the same with Tasha. Mason went to Spokane because I told I couldn't be with him." I sniffed and Dimitri rubbed my arms soothingly. "When we got back from Spokane Dimitri told me that he hadn't taken her offer because his heart was somewhere else. That Tasha was just a relationship and that he thought it could stop his feeling for me. Exactly like Mason was for me. We still agreed to stay away from each other though."

"When and why did you decide that you could let yourselves be together then?" Olena asked.

"Last night." Dimitri told her. "After the Strigoi attack. I thought I was going to die and I never got to tell Rose how much I love her. So I decided we should make the most of it."

I turned round on his lap and gave him a passionate kiss. "I love you." I whispered to him.

"Love you too." He whispered back. I chuckled and then turned back around.

"You guys are so cute!" Viktoria shouted.

I laughed. I would exactly have called Dimitri _cute._ Olena spoke next. "I am happy for you." She said smiling. "Oh and Dimitri," She began. "Abe heard you were back and said he was coming to visit. I don't know when he will get here though, you know how Zmey is."

Dimitri smiled and nodded. "Who is Abe? And what is a Zmey?" I asked him.

He chuckled at my mispronunciation. "Abe Mazur is a Moroi who helped out our family a while ago. Zmey means snake in Russian." He informed me.

"Oh." I said then began to randomly chat to Viktoria.

"So how did you and Mia become friends then?" She asked.

"Yeah. I was wondering that after all the horrible things she did to you." Sonya agreed.

"Did you hear about the attack on the Drozdovs?" I asked. They all nodded in unison. "Well her mother died in the attack."

"That's horrible." Karolina said. "Even if she was horrible, she never deserved to have that happen to her."

"I agree. After her mum died she started wanting to use offensive magic. She talked to Mason a bit because he wanted to kill Strigoi. She went with them to Spokane and saved my life. We became friends after that." I said smiling. "She never really hated _us _anyway. Lissa's older brother Andre screwed her over when he was still alive. That's why she resented Lissa."

A look of understanding crossed their faces. Then we moved onto happier topics like clothes and things.

I stayed on Dimitri's lap the whole time and he let me happily, his arms staying firmly wrapped around my waist. Soon there was a knock on the door and Karolina went to answer it.

A Moroi man walked in. He was tall, no surprises there, with hair a shade darker than mine and quite a tan complexion for a Moroi. He had a gold hoop in one ear and a cashmere scarf round his neck. He screamed money. When he spoke he had an accent I couldn't quite place. "Hello everyone." He greeted.

I almost went into shock when the next person walked in. She was 5 foot 2 with short curly red hair and a dhampir. She walked and stood next to Abe.

I just stared at her. "_Mom?_"


	7. Chapter 7

_Sorry its been so long! I got tons of really good reviews for the last chapter, thanks guys! This chapter is a bit shorter, sorry. I have had tons of stuff going on recently so it's been hard to update. I hope you enjoy this anyway. Thanks!

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Chapter Seven…

"_Rose!_" She exclaimed, clearly as shocked as me. "What are _you _doing in _Russia?_"

She seemed to get over the shock of me being here and turned her eyes towards Dimitri in a glare. I quickly scooted to the other side of the sofa, away from Dimitri and answered her question, before she could attack him. "Kirova sent me here with Dimitri as a training exercise." I informed her.

She continued to scowl at Dimitri. "Doesn't look like much of a training exercise to me." She said bitterly. Her hands balled up into fists. "Why did you have your hands on my daughter?" She growled, slowly making her way towards him.

I stood up in between them. "Mom. Calm down." She continued to edge forwards, not showing any signs of becoming more peaceful. "Let me explain." I begged.

"There is nothing to explain. He is seven years older than you and he is supposed to be your mentor. Not your secret lover." She shot at me.

I could feel the anger rising in me. "And you are supposed to be my mother. Not someone who I never see and when I do, gives me a black eye." She flinched at that. "You don't have the right to tell me what to do in my life. You haven't even been in it."

Warm hands encircled my wrists, as Dimitri stood up behind me. "Calm down Roza." He said quietly. When he said my name in Russian, I felt my anger dim slightly, but not completely. I was still enraged at my mother. "Calm down." He said it firmly now. I closed my eyes and focused on his voice. Slowly the anger subsided completely and I opened my eyes again.

"Sorry." I muttered to my mother. "I don't know why I get so angry all the time." This wasn't the first time I had randomly become angry at something small. Dimitri pulled me down onto the sofa. My mom just looked shocked at my outburst.

"I guess you had better explain then." She sighed, sitting on a couch on the other side of the room. The mobster guy sat down next to her, looking highly amused at our argument. I noticed how close they were sitting and would have raised my eyebrow if I had that talent.

"I love Dimitri. A _lot, _Mom." I told her honestly.

"I love her too." Dimitri said, grabbing my hand. I smiled at him. My mom just glared at him.

"You shouldn't. Your supposed to be her mentor!" She cried.

"We tried." I retorted. "We tried _so _hard to stay away from each other. But sometimes its just not that easy."

"Couldn't you have tried harder." She exclaimed.

I shook my head. "You don't know what we have been through mom! I don't think you could possibly understand how hard my life has been recently!"

"One of your best friends just died Rose, I know your going through a hard time. I know what Victor Dashkov did to you hurt you, but I don't see how all of this affects you having an illegal relationship."

"You don't know the half of what Victor Dashkov did to me." I muttered, not intending her to hear. Apparently I needed to be quieter.

She raised her eyebrows. "What do you mean?" She demanded.

"Well. You know that he put a charm on me and Dimitri?" I asked, knowing she did.

"Yes. You mean the _violence _charm." She said, figuring out I was about to tell her it wasn't a violence charm at all.

"Well it wasn't exactly a violence charm." I started. She gestured for me carry on speaking. "It was a lust charm."

She gasped. "I can't believe that Victor would do that to you." She looked genuinely shocked, but I soon found out there was more to her reaction. "I've studied such charms. I know for a fact that there has to already be an attraction in place for it to work. That means Victor must have known about your relationship."

I sighed. "You could hardly have called it a 'relationship'." I told her. "But yes, he said that Natalie noticed our feelings towards each other and she told him. He observed and it turned out to be true. God knows how she noticed though. Lissa doesn't even know."

"You didn't tell Lissa?" My mom asked. "I thought you would tell Lissa everything."

I shook my head. "The only other person that knows is Adrian."

"You told _Adrian Ivashkov _but not Lissa." She shrieked. I chuckled at the way she said Adrian's name with such disgust.

"I didn't tell Adrian, he overheard us arguing and I said something I shouldn't have. Something like, 'I mean, she's what, six years older than you? Seven? And I'm seven years younger than you.' to him." Dimitri chuckled. "Adrian wouldn't tell anyone anyway. He really isn't that bad." I defended him.

"Who were you talking about when you said that?" Viktoria asked me. I was slightly startled when I heard her voice. I had forgotten that most of his family were still here.

"Tasha." I told her.

She laughed. "I should have guessed. Trust me, I would much rather you were going out with my brother than Tasha."

I laughed at her. Then something in my mom's head clicked and a look of realisation crossed her face. "That's why you got so upset when I told you he was going to be Tasha's guardian." She claimed. "At least I know you weren't just trying to get rid of me now." I swear my eye almost twitched. Since when did my mother joke.

"Yeah, I was pretty annoyed when you told me that." I told her, honestly.

My mother laughed, then her face turned serious again. "Did you sleep with him when Victor put the charm on you?" She asked.

I blushed, but shook my head. My mom breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness." Then she eyed me again. "Have you slept with him any other time?" She asked, suspiciously.

I blushed deeper this time. "Rose!" She shrieked. I just shrugged my shoulders slightly, highly embarrassed. She seemed to sense my distress and moved on quickly. "I'm taking it your going to keep this a secret until graduation then?" She predicted.

I nodded. "And then Dimitri is going to be reassigned. We have it all worked out."

She looked puzzled for a moment. Then she figured it out. "Because if you are both the princess' guardians you will protect each other rather than her." She clarified. We both nodded. "You really have this all planned out don't you? I bet that was the reason you wouldn't be together, not the age thing." She guessed correctly.

Dimitri nodded his agreement. "I know how much Rose cares about Lissa. Also, it's my job to protect her. _They come first._"

My mother understood completely. She took her job very seriously. "So…?" I asked my mom, looking hopefully at her.

She sighed. "I'm…happy for you." She said eventually. "Out of all the people she could have chosen to be with, I'm glad it was you. You take your job very seriously and I can tell that you love Rose. I know you aren't taking advantage of her."

I almost gaped at her. She wasn't one for big speeches. I went and hugged her. "Thanks Mom. I'm glad you approve." She smiled.

"I'm glad your happy." I pulled away and went back to Dimitri, positioning myself on his lap again.

"Thanks Guardian Hathaway." Dimitri smiled at her.

"Please call me Janine." She offered. He nodded.

"I'm glad she didn't manage to hit you." I whispered to Dimitri. "I wouldn't have been as bothered if Lissa was here to heal you." He chuckled.

I turned my attention back to my mother now. "So why are you here anyway Mom?" I asked her curiously. She never took time off, so this Abe man must be important.

"I was visiting Abe." She said quickly. She looked like she was hiding something.

"How do you know him?" I asked. "And since when do you take time off?"

"I met your mother a long time ago." Abe began. I still couldn't quite place his accent, it was annoying me to death. "We met when she was with a different charge. Someone from the Conta family, I believe." He said.

Wow. That must have been before I was born. As soon as my mom got rid of me, she went to guard Lord Szelsky and hasn't changed charge since then. "Whoa. A very long time ago then." I said.

My mom looked uncomfortable about this topic, which made me want to know more about it. Abe seemed to notice and turned to Dimitri. "I heard you were back so I thought I would make a visit. I didn't realise that Janine's daughter was also here. How have you been?" He asked.

"Fine thank you. And yourself?" He replied. Why was he always so formal?

"Good."

There was an awkward silence after that. "I am going to get a drink, does anybody want one?" I asked to the room.

A few people nodded and Abe stood up. "I will come and help you."

I was about to tell him I didn't want his help when he walked past me into the kitchen. I put the kettle on while Abe watched. So much for helping me. "Janine told me a lot about you." He said.

"I take it you don't have a very high opinion of me then."

"What makes you say that? She never told me anything bad about you."

"I'm not so sure about that old man." I contradicted him. "I thought you came to help." I told him.

He chuckled. "Of course. _Little Girl._"

I knew he had called me little girl as payback for the old man comment, but it still annoyed the hell out of me. We quickly finished making and drinking the drinks. My mom and Abe had to go after that and we were back to all of us sitting around the sofa's talking randomly.

"I can't believe my mother took time off to see some random guy." I exclaimed. "Mind you, she could take time off all the time for all I know. She apparently wouldn't use it to come and see me anyway." I sighed.

"You know that's not true. The only reason she won't have gone to see you is because she only just saw you at Christmas." Dimitri reasoned.

"And what a nice visit that was." I grimaced, remembering my black eye. "How do you think she knows that Abe guy. They looked pretty comfy on that sofa over there. You don't think there, you know, do you?" I asked him.

Dimitri laughed. "Just because your mom is friends with someone it doesn't mean that they're together."

"I just wondered, that's all. My mom doesn't usually have friends. This is a rare occurrence."

"I'm sure your mother has friends that you don't know about. She will meet plenty of Moroi and Guardians guarding someone powerful in the Moroi world."

"I suppose." I allowed. "I can't believe she let us be together and she didn't hit you!" I said, joyfully.

Viktoria piped into our conversation. "She sure looked like she was about to hit Dimka. If you hadn't gone all scary on her I think she would have."

Dimitri looked concerned when Viktoria mentioned my outburst. "What happened then Rose? That wasn't like you."

I sighed. "I don't know. It's been happening a lot recently. I've been getting really angry for no reason." I paused to think about it. "It's…It's ever since Lissa stopped taking her meds to practice with Adrian."

"You think this has something to do with Lissa's magic?" He asked.

"I don't know. I just know that it's only been happening since she started using it again." Dimitri sighed looking at me with his concerned eyes. "It's probably nothing though. I was just annoyed because my mom was here and trying to tell me what to do." I tried to convince him. I didn't want him worrying about me.

"That was definitely not nothing Roza." He stated. "Now come on. It's time to run." He said sarcastically.

I groaned. "I would rather sit and try to convince my mother that we love each other again." I joked.

Dimitri laughed and dragged me up. "Come on."


	8. Chapter 8

_Sorry my laptop took so long to be fixed. I have been working on this as soon as I got it back. I will be updating Heartbreak and Happiness ASAP, but with school and things it is going to be harder to update as often with both stories. :( I hope you enjoy this anyway. It has fluff and serious. Thanks for the reviews also. :)_

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Chapter Eight…

I spent the rest of the day pondering on the last few days. A _lot _had happened, and it was still taking a while for my head to wrap around it. First of all, and most important in my eyes, was finally being with Dimitri. I never thought that this would actually be possible, I would just live my life trying to compress and hide my feelings, praying that one day I wouldn't just break.

Second was the Strigoi attack. A few things were stuck in my mind about this. First of all, the weird nausea. Somehow, I knew this wasn't a coincidence. It had come just before the Strigoi attack happened and left when the last on died. If anything, I should have felt more sick from just seeing what happened to Dimitri. No. I knew this wasn't by chance. I would have to wait until the next Strigoi attack happened, and see if it was the same.

Another thing that was bothering me was the fact that the Strigoi knew my name. However it wasn't just bothering me, it was scaring the life out of me. What did the Strigoi know of me? Why would they target me? The attack on Dimitri's home was planned, that much I knew for certain. They wouldn't go after a home of dhampir's, who were likely to defend themselves when there were plenty of defenceless Moroi out there. What did they want with me? I was just a novice!

One of the other major things on my mind was what happened earlier. I had been _so _angry for practically no reason at all. Sure, my mom threatening our relationship was enough to piss me off a little bit, but not that much. All I could think about at that moment was how much my mother needed to pay for trying to hurt us. Nothing rational was going through my mind.

Ever since Lissa had come off her meds to practice with Adrian, my moods had been all over the place. I had been becoming either angry or upset all the time. Even the smallest thing would set me off. For instance the other day when I was pulled into her head when she was with Christian. Normally that would bother me quite as much as that, but I had been crying my eyes out. It did upset and annoy the hell out of me. It also made me jealous and resent her, but never to that extent.

Finally, my mother had accepted my relationship with Dimitri. I think that maybe the most shocking of them all. Also, with my scary outburst, I had managed to stop her hitting Dimitri. I also wondered about her and that Abe guy. I had finally managed to place his accent. He was Turkish. I had confirmed it with Dimitri to be sure. Something about that bothered me. It was nagging at my brain and it annoyed the hell out of me.

I saw someone waving their hand in front of me. I must have been spaced out longer than I realised. Viktoria chuckled. "Earth to Rose. I though we had lost you then." We were eating dinner and when I looked up, I noticed the whole family eyeing me curiously. I realised I must have stopped eating.

I laughed. Dimitri studied me. "Were you in Lissa's head?" He asked. I felt mildly guilty then. I had planned on going into Lissa's head a lot, to check up on her, but I had been avoiding doing so since my theory about her darkness arose.

I shook my head. "I was just thinking about things." Deciding to mention one of my concerns, I spoke again. "Did you here what that Strigoi said to me, just before I killed it?" I asked, mainly speaking to Dimitri. A lot of them flinched at the memory of the not so distant attack.

Dimitri's face twisted in pain. The words he had spoken to me were obviously burned into Dimitri's memory, no matter how much he looked like he was trying to forget them. They had been causing him distress, I could tell. "Yes." He sighed.

Everyone else looked between us, confused. "What did he say?" Karolina asked us.

"_We will get you Rosemarie Hathaway._" I replied, monotone. I heard a few gasps echo around the room. "That attack wasn't random." I said eventually.

Dimitri nodded, while the others looked sceptic. "Why don't you think it was random, I'm sure a lot of people know your name Rose." Viktoria tried to reason with me. "My whole school has heard of you, I'm sure the Strigoi are no exception."

I shook my head. "They wouldn't attack a house of dhampir's who are likely to defend themselves when there are plenty of Moroi who are easy targets. This was planned." I explained.

Dimitri nodded. "As much as I hate to admit it, Rose is right." He grimaced.

I suddenly came to realise something. By me staying here, I was putting the whole of Dimitri's family in danger. If any Strigoi came and I couldn't kill them, they would take everyone else as well. Dimitri noticed my wide eyes and raised his eyebrow at me. "I'm putting everyone in danger by staying here." I said. "I should go somewhere else. I don't want anyone to get hurt because of me."

Dimitri had opened his mouth to speak, but Olena beat him to it. "You are welcome in my house at anytime Rose. Don't ever doubt that." She said firmly.

I smiled. "Thanks Olena." It felt nice to know that they treated me like I was part of their family. It was something I had never had. All I ever had was Lissa.

I decided not to mention the nausea. It would probably make people just think I was going crazy. I would wait until I had proof that it was caused by Strigoi and wait for the attack I was certain was going to happen.

I thought about my mom and Abe next. "So who is this Abe guy exactly, and how on Earth do you think my _mom _is friends with him?" I asked to the room.

"He is a good man, he helped out our family a lot. Zmey has a bad reputation among many people, it is rumoured that he takes part in illegal business, but I don't think that's true. He also works with the alchemists a lot." Olena explained. I could tell she was grateful to Abe and respected him a lot. He must have really helped the Belikovs.

At least I knew my mother wasn't 'friends' with some illegal mobster, no matter how he looked or acted. He actually reminded me a lot of me with his attitude. I could tell that no one would dare to mess with him, and he was good at intimidating people.

I was also still not convinced that my mother was just friends with him. They looked very cosy and I doubt she would take time off work for a _friend_. I was definitely suspicious of their relationship. If I saw them again, I would have to observe more closely.

"I still wonder how on Earth my mother actually knows him, and why she took time off work to go and see him. She has _never _taken time off work to come and see me. He must be pretty important to her." I informed them. "Mind you, I'm not sure it is a good idea if she sees me if what happens last time happens again." I muttered.

Dimitri still heard me. "You know she didn't do that on purpose Rose." He tried to reason with me. I did know that she hadn't done it on purpose, but she still did it, and that is what pissed me off most. "And I'm sure if your mother wants to explain to you how she know Abe, then she will." I huffed. I hated it when he threw reasonable arguments at me.

He chuckled, knowing what I was thinking. I didn't bring up Lissa's darkness. I knew it was worrying Dimitri, and to be honest, it was kind of freaking me out as well. We didn't mention the Strigoi attacks either, and talked about more happy and normal topics instead.

Dimitri said he was going to take me to see some of Russia today. He always had said it was beautiful, while assumed it was just some kind of Arctic Wasteland. As soon as we had landed I figured out I was wrong. I couldn't wait to spend some time with Dimitri. I was planning on making the most of my time with him, because once we got back to the Academy, we would be keeping our distance again. I wouldn't be able to hold his hand in public like I was now. I wouldn't be able to kiss him whenever I wanted like I was now. People would always judge me, unlike his family. I was going to miss this. I wish we could stay here forever.

The worst thing is, that I hadn't even missed Lissa that much. Sure, I had wished she was here sometimes, but just being able to spend time with Dimitri, acting normal, was enough to take away any unhappiness Lissa's absence brought.

We had been to all different types of places, and they were all beautiful. Dimitri had driven me around and we had taken tons of pictures. It was a shame I couldn't have taken any of us kissing or anything, just in case anyone else decided to look on my camera. Now, we were sat leaning against a tree, our car parked beside us, looking out over the landscape of Russia.

It was like one of those romantic movies, when everything turns out alright in the end. I already knew mine and Dimitri's chance of a happy ending wasn't very likely. I was sat on Dimitri's lap, his arms encircling my waist. We were in the comfortable silence that always came so easily between us as I drew random patterns on his hand.

I sighed in contentment. "I wish we could stay like this forever." I told him, looking up to see his face.

Dimitri smiled. "Me too." His head bent down slightly to peck my lips. "I don't ever want to go back to the Academy."

I chuckled. "It's amazing how much what we want has changed."

Dimitri smirked. "I never thought I would fall in love with my student, that's for sure."

I laughed. "And I never thought that I would think Russia is this beautiful." I teased, smirking.

Dimitri laughed with me, knowing what I had always pictured Russia like. We continued to sit like this, talking about light topics until the sun began to set. "Come on, we should get back." Dimitri told me.

I nodded and we walked to the car. We held hands the whole way back. I noticed a car I hadn't seen before parked outside when we got back. Dimitri seemed to recognise it, but I was still puzzled - until we walked inside.

My mother and Abe we sat on the couch. They weren't holding hands, but they were awfully close to each other. My mom was laughing and smiling more than I had ever seen. I was quite shocked. "Hi mom, Abe." I said, smiling genuinely at the both.

Me and Dimitri went and sat down on the sofa opposite them. "Hi Rose, Dimitri." Abe replied, smiling back at me.

"What are you doing here?" I asked them.

"We came to see everyone. We thought you would be here, but you and Dimitri were sight-seeing so we stayed until you came back." My mom told us.

"Cool."

I thought about something then. If I was being targeted by Strigoi then I think my mother should know. I bent Dimitri's head down so I could speak to him, without anyone else hearing. "I think we should tell them about my Strigoi problem."

Dimitri brought his head back up. "You're right. They should know."

Both my mother and Abe narrowed their eyes at us when he said that. "What have you done. Your not getting married or something are you." She demanded.

I chuckled. "I wish it was something that happy, but no." I paused for a minute. "We think I am being targeted by Strigoi."

They gasped, almost inaudibly. "I'm sure your mistaken. Why would they target you Rose?" Abe tried to reason.

I shook my head. "Do you remember I told you that we were attacked by Strigoi two days ago?" I asked, knowing she did.

"Of course." She said, smiling proudly that I had killed two Strigoi.

"Well, when I killed the last one he spoke to me. He said: _We will get you Rosemarie Hathaway._" My mom put her guardian mask on. I could tell she was trying to hide the fear that she was feeling for me. Just as she was about to speak again, and know doubt say that I was being ridiculous, I carried on. "The more I think about it, the more I know the attack wasn't random. I mean, why would Strigoi target a house of Dhampir's when they know we will fight back, when there are defenceless Moroi everywhere. They wouldn't have threatened me personally either."

I knew my argument was strong, but she was still trying to find some holes in it. Not because she didn't believe me, but because she didn't want to believe me. Finally she sighed. Abe put a hand over hers, offering his support. She smiled at him and I looked closely at them, but they were to busy lost in the moment to notice. There was definitely something going on there though, I had decided. "You're right, but why would they target you?" She asked.

I shook my head. "I don't know. The only reason I can think of, is to get to Lissa, because of the bond, but I'm sure they know she is at St. Vladimir's anyway."

My mom looked defeated. "I don't know. I am certain that I won't let them get you though." She said fiercely.

"Me neither." Dimitri added with the same determination.

I smiled slightly at both of them. "Thanks."

They seemed to notice the time and that it was very late for us. I was guessing that Abe ran on the Moroi schedule, and therefore so would my mother. "We should be going." He announced.

My mom came over and hugged me tightly. "I won't let anything happen to you." She repeated. I wasn't sure if she was telling me that for my benefit or hers. Nevertheless it was still nice to hear.

We said goodbye and watched as they left. I snuggled into Dimitri now that they had gone. Somehow I didn't think it would have been a good idea if I had done it while they were still here. It would have been very uncomfortable. Dimitri wrapped his arms around me and rested his head on mine. "You don't need to worry." He told me, reading me like a book. I still wondered how he could understand me so well. Not even my mom had realised I was worried. "I won't let anything hurt you. I would give up myself before I let them harm you."

I spun around to face him. "Oh no you wouldn't." I warned him. I would never want Dimitri to get hurt because of me.

He looked down. "I would do _anything _to stop you getting hurt." He whispered.

I moved from his side, and straddled his legs instead. His arms repositioned themselves so that he was gripping my hips instead. "I wouldn't want you to get hurt because of me." I told him seriously. "I don't know what I would do without you."

"And I don't know what I would do without you." He agreed, the love he was feeling projecting through his words.

I grinned. "I love you Comrade."

"I love you too Roza."

Our faces were getting closer together as we leaned in, and our lips met in a soft and gentle kiss. It didn't stay like that for long however. It quickly developed in passion and heat as we moved even closer together. It still amazed me how quickly we could go from soft and sweet to fiery and passionate within a matter of seconds.

His hands that were gripping my hips still, pulled me savagely into his lap as I opened our mouths, our tongues tangling viciously. My hands moved to lose themselves into Dimitri's hair, securing his mouth to mine.

I ground my hips into his as I felt his growing erection push onto my inner thigh. We both moaned simultaneously. I arched my back as my boobs pushed into his chest. Our kissing seemed to increase in it's intensity even more, if that was possible.

I assumed his family had already gone to bed, seen as though they weren't downstairs when we got in. I was however proven wrong when I heard a loud cough coming from the doorway.

Viktoria was stood there looking horrified. Her eyes were wide as she looked at me and Dimitri. I laughed at her. "I _so _didn't need to see that." She complained.

Me and Dimitri chuckled. I was still on his lap, and could still feel his erection on my thigh. I decided to have some fun. I moved ever so slightly against it, knowing he would be able to feel it, but Viktoria still wouldn't notice. He bit his lip and I knew I had had the desired effect. I grinned at him, as Viktoria continued to grumble about how she was scarred for life. I moved again, harder this time, and a low sound came from him. His hold on my hips tightened as he tried to stop himself from alerting Viktoria to what was happening.

I watched as Viktoria carried on grumbling. Just as she looked away from us, I pushed myself hard into his lap, violently rubbing against him. "Roza." He groaned, loudly. I giggled.

Viktoria refocused he gaze on us, the glare evident. "I don't even want to know what you just did to him, but please don't do it again." She rushed out, before hurrying back upstairs, clearly scared of witnessing anything else.

I turned back to Dimitri who still had desire and lust written all over his face. "You shouldn't have done that Roza." He chastised me playfully.

"You can't say you were complaining." I teased, moving myself against him again.

He groaned out loud this time, as he crushed his lips to mine again. We manoeuvred ourselves so that he was hovering above me on the sofa. Our kissing picked up again. We both knew we couldn't go any further than this while we were still staying in his mothers house, it was bad enough that we did it the first time here, but we were allowed to have some fun. And this was definitely fun.

I arched my back to him and then swivelled us around so that I was now above him. We continued our make out session until Dimitri stood up, taking me with him, my legs wrapped around his waist. I kissed up to his ear and bit is softly. He murmured something in Russian when I did this. I knew I had found something he liked. "Do you like that Comrade." I whispered quietly. He just groaned softly and I chuckled. I moved onto kissing his neck until we made it to our room.

We both lost our clothes until we were in our underwear. He was hovering on top of me as we continued to kiss. "I wish we weren't in this house with your family right now." I managed to get out between my heavy breaths.

"Me too." Dimitri said quietly.

I flipped us over, breaking the kiss and just lied on top of him instead. I traced and drew random shaped over his chest and arms, smiling contentedly. "I love you." I said randomly.

"I love you too." He replied automatically.

I smiled, then drifted off to sleep soon after.


	9. Chapter 9

_Here is the next chapter, I put a bit more action into this one. Don't worry people, Janine and Abe will be in it again soon, also some more of Paul. I love that kid! _

_Thanks for all the reviews, and I hope I get some more for this chapter as well! Please enjoy! _

_Also, if you could check out my new story, **Trading Places**__, I would really appreciate it :D_

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Chapter Nine…

I woke up, for the third day in a row, with Dimitri's arms wrapped tightly around me. I smiled. I don't think I would ever get bored of waking up like this. Dimitri stirred beside me, and his eyes fluttered open. He awarded me with one of his genuine smiles and then pecked my lips softly.

I spun over so I was laying on top of him. "I love waking up to this." I grinned, speaking my earlier thoughts.

Dimitri chuckled. "Me too."

"Let's get up, I think my mother wants us to nip to the shops for her this morning." He informed me. I grinned. At least it wasn't running.

I heaved myself up and away from him. He groaned at the loss of my weight on him, but got up to join me pulling on my clothes anyway.

We quickly changed into our workout clothes. Turns out we were running to the shop after all. Damn.

Walking into the room, we saw it was deserted. Everyone must be still in bed. Mind you, it was still slightly dark, because me and Dimitri hadn't quite adjusted to the schedule yet.

While we were sat eating breakfast, I decided I would slip into Lissa's head. I hadn't checked up on her, for what felt like forever, I only felt mildly guilty about it however.

For some reason it was slightly harder to tune into the bond this time, but when I did, I was horrified.

Everyone was sat in the commons, while Alberta spoke at the mike. There had been a Strigoi attack. I now knew why Lissa had been blocking me, she wanted me to enjoy my holiday, and not worry about protecting her.

I listened to what Alberta was saying. "We know that the Strigoi wanted something when they came here, seen as though they were trying to be undetected, rather than attack us full on. Apparently, they didn't find what they were looking for, and left, without attacking at all. They did search the novice dorms though."

I pulled out of Lissa's head and gasped. "Dimitri." I said, as soon as I refocused on the room. "Strigoi attacked the Academy."

Dimitri was instantly in front of me. "Is everyone okay? Is Lissa okay?"

I nodded my head, still slightly in shock. "Everyone is fine." I managed to get out. "The Strigoi never attacked anyone. They just searched. The novice dorms." I told him quietly.

He gripped my arms, quite tightly. "You know I'm not going to let anything hurt you." He reassured me.

I nodded and buried my head into the crook of his neck. He wrapped his arms tightly around me and whispered soothing words in Russian to me. A few tears slipped out, and before I knew it, a sob racked through my body.

What if next time the Strigoi came searching for me, someone did get hurt? It would all be my fault. I couldn't let that happen to anyone because of me.

"Dimka!" Olena called, walking down the stairs. "I still need you to go to the sh-" She stopped when she saw me crying into Dimitri's shirt.

"Oh honey, what's the matter?" She asked, quickly, her maternal instinct kicking in.

Dimitri, thankfully, explained for me. "There was a Strigoi attack on the school. No one got hurt, but they were looking for Rose."

I had buried my head further into Dimitri's neck half way through his explanation, so I couldn't see Olena's reaction. I could however hear the slight gasp.

She must have decided to leave me and Dimitri to it, because I heard her soft footsteps retreating back up the stairs.

I continued to stay in the same position, even when my sobs had stopped coming. Dimitri just held me, and didn't complain once.

He picked me up, silently, and moved us over to the couch. I stayed cradled in his lap. "Are you okay?" He asked me quietly.

I looked up and ran my hand down his jaw. "I'm okay. I just couldn't bare it if next time someone did get hurt. It would all be my fault." I told him.

He ran his hand through my hair. "They're Strigoi Rose, they're always going to hurt people." He tried to consolidate with me.

I shook my head. "If I could help it, I wouldn't want anyone to get hurt."

He had no argument to my statement. I could tell he didn't even want to consider me getting hurt. He just stuck to whispering soothing Russian words to me. "I need to ring Lissa." I said suddenly, remembering she was in panic mode. I also didn't want her to be trying to block her emotions from me. I should have known as something had gone wrong.

He nodded, wordlessly, and then handed me a phone. I knew her number off by heart. She picked up on the fourth ring. "Hello?" She asked.

"Hey Liss." I replied.

I could feel her excitement through the bond, which she was no longer trying to block. "Rose? How are you? How's Russia?" She asked, at a ridiculous speed.

I chuckled. "I'm fine. Russia is great." I grinned, thinking about what me and Dimitri had been doing in Russia. Dimitri laughed lightly, knowing what I was thinking about. Before Liss had time to respond, I cut to the chase. "How are you? Are you sure no one got hurt in the Strigoi attack?" I pressed her.

She seemed shocked I knew, thinking her bond block had worked. She sighed. "I'm okay. No one was hurt at all. Alberta says the Strigoi were looking for something, I just wish I knew what." Lissa exclaimed.

I gulped. "I know. Me too Liss." I lied.

I couldn't have Lissa worried about me. That's why I lied. I couldn't have her thinking about my safety when she had her own to worry about. Even if they were only after me, I'm sure they wouldn't mind taking the last Dragomir as a side order.

"I have to go now Rose, it's past curfew and I need to go to sleep." She told me.

"Okay. I will call you again though tomorrow." I promised. "Make sure you don't get hurt." I warned. Then I remembered one of the reasons I had rung her in the first place. "And don't even trying to block that bond from me!" I instructed her.

I could almost hear her nodding her head. "I will Rose. Don't worry, I will keep the bond open. I guess my blocking skills weren't as good as I thought. At least I know nothing is going to hurt you in Russia."

I sighed. She honestly believed that. "Okay Liss. See you soon."

I hung up after that. Turning back to face Dimitri, I handed him the phone back. "Thanks." I said, smiling.

I knew he had heard the whole conversation, with me sitting on his lap and all, so I was waiting for the questions to come. "I know you don't want her to worry about you, but I think you should tell her it's you they're after." He said softly.

"I know. I just don't want her to be worrying about me when she might be in danger as well."

"Okay." He agreed, knowing I wouldn't change my mind, no matter what he said. "She's stronger than you think though."

Olena came back down the stairs a couple of minutes later, but went straight into the kitchen instead of coming in the room.

A few minutes later, she came back with two plates of the Russian pancakes I loved so much. I grinned at her. "Thanks Olena." I thanked her, before moving off Dimitri's lap so that I could eat.

We dug in hungrily, not sparing a mouthful to speak. When we had finished, we both helped Olena wash up.

We spent the rest of the day lounging about the house, and just doing things a normal couple would do on their day off. Unfortunately, we both knew we could never be a normal couple. Although, pretending for a day was great.

It was nearly time for dinner, when Olena came in. "I'm sorry to ask, but would you mind going to the shop for me. You never went this morning and I still need some things for tea." She explained.

"Of course." I answered.

She smiled gratefully, before returning to the kitchen.

Me and Dimitri walked in silence, holding hands, towards the shops. The sun was just setting, and the odd couple were walking along the pavement in silence. Olena had given us a short list of supplies that we were to buy.

The shop was quite small, but had all the basics someone would need to live on. We grabbed the items and paid. The cashier was a nice looking woman in her early 30's. I could tell she was a dhampir as well. She smiled at us warmly as she sent our things through the check out. I think she was happy for us.

On the way back to the house, things didn't go quite as well.

The sun was completely set now, and only the light of the moon and street lights cast shadows onto the street around us.

Suddenly, I felt the familiar pang of nausea in my stomach. There was no reason for me to suddenly feel sick, unless my theory was correct. "Dimitri." I said quickly. "Strigoi."

He gave me a puzzled look, but pulled out his silver stake nevertheless. I copied his motion, dropping the shopping and retrieving my own stake which Dimitri had made sure I carried with me everywhere.

In the dark night, I didn't see the fist of the Strigoi until it was almost too late to dodge it. I clumsily ducked to the left, just barely missing his fist. I identified four Strigoi surrounding us. Two each.

I didn't have time to watch Dimitri fight, no matter how much I wanted to, because I had my own problems. The Strigoi's lunged at me in turn, using their numbers as a disadvantage against me. As soon as one attacked, the other would straight after, meaning I had to dodge every second, not having time to go on the offensive at all.

After dodging simultaneous blows, I noticed a Strigoi make a fatal mistake. He left his chest unguarded. I instantly thrust my stake through his heart and watched as the life faded from him. I spun around, just in time to block a punch from the other Strigoi. Now it was a one-on-one fight, giving me a much better chance.

After another couple minutes of skilled fighting, he shoved me up against a wall I didn't know was behind me. As he was lowering his fangs to my neck, I gave one final shove, manoeuvring my stake through to his heart.

I looked across to see Dimitri give the final blow to his Strigoi at the same time. We locked eyes and shared a relief and loved filled gaze. He was at my side in an instant, crushing my lips with his.

After a passionate kiss, making sure neither of us were hurt and savouring in the fact we had both survived, I went and picked up the dropped shopping. In the mist of the fighting, we had somehow managed to not touch the shopping once.

Walking through the door, all eyes turned on us, then widened as they took in our ragged appearances. Our clothes were ripped and blood was smeared in places due to some minor gashes and cuts. "Here's your shopping." I said, passing Olena the small bag of items.

She just stood there frozen. "What happened to you?" Karolina demanded. She didn't really need to ask that. They all knew it had been Strigoi that had fought us.

"Strigoi." Dimitri answered, unnecessarily.

"Are you both okay?" Sonya inquired.

We both nodded. "Just some minor cuts and bruises. Even the shopping survived." I joked, half-heartedly.

Nobody laughed. Olena took the shopping off me eventually, turning and heading back to the kitchen. Me and Dimitri collapsed onto the sofa, both worn out completely.

"How many?" Viktoria asked, not being able to hold her questions in any longer.

I held up four fingers, not bothering to open my mouth and speak. "Two each then?" She questioned.

We nodded, once again not having the energy to speak. Olena called us for tea shortly after, and we all piled into the dining room, sitting around the table. Nobody asked anymore questions about the attack, not wanting to dwell on depressing topics. In fact, nobody said much during tea, content with the silence.

Normally I would have offered to help Olena with the washing up, but today I just couldn't bring myself to do anything unnecessary. Me and Dimitri just trudged upstairs and into our room. Instead of finding my big t-shirt to pull on, I just stripped down to my underwear. Dimitri followed suit and we both collapsed onto the bed, covering ourselves with the covers and each others bodies.

"I'm glad your okay Roza." Dimitri said softly, kissing my forehead gently.

"Me too Comrade. I love you." I whispered.

"I love you too." He responded, before we both fell into a dreamless sleep, contentedly wrapped in each others embraces.


	10. Chapter 10

_I AM SO SORRY! _

_I can't believe how long it has taken me to update! I have English exams coming up next week, so I have been revising non-stop. Also, it was my birthday on Wednesday, so I couldn't really update then. _

_I know this chapter is really short, boring and rubbish but I am trying to fit this in around everything else. _

_I will try and update my other stories at the weekend as well. _

_Thanks for all the reviews, they have been really great :)_

_SORRY ONCE AGAIN! _

_

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_

Chapter Ten…

I woke up to someone bouncing on the bed, giggling. I groaned and opened my eyes to see a giddy Paul jumping up and down, trying to avoid mine and Dimitri's bodies. I could see Dimitri was awake as well and was also wondering why Paul was bouncing on our bed.

Just as I was about to ask, he slipped, falling down onto me. I grabbed him just as he was about to land in my face and he sat on my stomach instead. "Hey Rose." He grinned.

"Hey Paul, why are you waking us up so early?" I asked.

"Mom said you and Uncle Dimka were going to take me to the park." He spoke, angelically.

"Did she?" Dimitri spoke for the first time.

Paul nodded enthusiastically. "She said you would play with me and everything!" He cried.

He was so cute. I wondered how he could be so happy all the time. It must be nice to not have a care in the world like that.

I chuckled softly. "Of course we will take you to the park Paul. We just need to get ready." I told him.

He nodded and raced out of the room. "Your nephew is adorable."

Dimitri laughed. "It gets annoying after a while."

We both got up and pulled on our clothes. I had never really dealt with kids, I wondered how I would do spending time with Paul. Either I would get annoyed with him, or it would make me feel guilty. I knew Dimitri would be great with Paul, just like he would be great with a child of his own. Something I could never give him.

I tried to shake off my slightly depressing thoughts and joined Dimitri in leaving the room.

Paul wolfed down his breakfast, even quicker than I normally did, and we set off to the park.

Paul zoomed around me and Dimitri, who were walking at a steadier pace, our hands interlocked. It was only a short walk and we got there quickly. It was a brilliant day and the sun was shining brightly. Only a couple of other families were at the park, so there was plenty of space.

Paul sped off towards the climbing frame, while I pulled Dimitri down onto a bench. We sat in silence, watching Paul play happily with some of the other children. That was until he decided it was time for his Uncle Dimka and Rose to play. "Come on! Come and play with me!" He cried from the top of the slide.

I groaned. "Comrade." I whined. I was content with sitting on the bench, my head resting on Dimitri's shoulder and his arm wrapped around my waist. "Please don't make me play."

He grinned, before pulling me up with him. I groaned, but followed him towards Paul anyway. "What do you want to play?" Dimitri asked.

He paused for a moment to think. "Urrm…" Then he jumped up and down on the spot. "Can we play tag!" He grinned. "Whoever is on is the Strigoi."

I sighed. At least he wasn't a girl and wanted to play tea parties or something. This didn't actually sound that bad. "Okay." I agreed. Dimitri grinned at me. "Who's it?" I asked.

Paul thought for a second, before charging off in the other direction, calling: "You!" Over his shoulder.

I laughed at his retreating figure, before turning to Dimitri, who hadn't run yet and smirking at him. "Get ready to lose Comrade."

His lips quirked up into a half smile, before he followed Paul charging off in the other direction.

I set off, deciding to go after Paul, seeing as though he was the one who actually wanted to play. I obviously didn't run full speed, or I would have been by him in a second. He saw my catching up to him and giggled before trying to run faster. "I'm going to get you Paul!" I called out to him, before grabbing his shoulder and smiling at him. "You're on!" I cried, before running off.

I could see Dimitri on the other side of the field we were playing on and I waved to him. I could see him laughing while I tried to distract him from Paul who was gaining on him. I began to move suggestively and his eyes widened. I knew I had caught his attention.

Just as I was beginning to run out of ideas, Paul jumped on Dimitri, telling him he was it. I could see Dimitri's annoyed expression as he caught sight of me sniggering. Paul had already sped off somewhere else and I only realised what was happening when Dimitri began to make his way towards me.

I swore under my breath as I spun around, trying to get away from Dimitri, who I knew I wouldn't be able to avoid. I kept running at full speed, until I heard his footsteps getting closer behind me. I pushed myself even harder, knowing it was hopeless.

I could tell he was right behind me now. I was suddenly on the floor as Dimitri hovered above me. We were both panting and out of breath as a sly smile crept onto his face. "You're it." He managed to gasp out.

I flipped him over so I was now straddling him. "How long do I have to keep you pinned down for before I can get you back?" I teased.

He chuckled, before flipping us once again. "I think I would be the one keeping you here." He whispered, leaning closer to me.

"I'm not complaining." I whispered huskily into his ear.

I could feel his breathing, which had just about calmed down, speed up again. His hands, which were pinning my wrists above my head, tightened ever so slightly. I chuckled as he pressed his body closer to mine.

Just as we were about to kiss, Paul's voice interrupted us. "Are we still playing tag?" He asked. "Because Abe and that woman are here."

Me and Dimitri's heads both turned sideways to look at my mom and Abe's figures looking down at us. Dimitri hastily got off me and he helped me up. We stood awkwardly in front of them. They had no doubt just seen us about to make out, and it wasn't something I wanted to happen in front of my mother and some random man. They were smiling happily though, as if they hadn't just seen me about to kiss a man who was supposed to be my teacher.

"Hey mom, Abe." I smiled.

"Hey Rose, Dimitri." My mom replied.

"What are you doing here?" I asked her. It was only now that I realised Abe's two guardians were stood close by, but not suspiciously close.

"We were just taking a walk, you?" My mom smiled at Abe as she said this. I couldn't help but to still think there was something going on between them.

"Playing with Paul." I responded.

Paul had gone back to play on the climbing frame when he realised we weren't going to be continuing our game of tag. All four of us went back to the bench me and Dimitri had been sitting on. "How long have you taken time off for?" I asked, trying to make conversation.

She shrugged slightly. "I'm not sure." I could tell there was something she wasn't saying.

"What do you mean?" I pressured her.

"Well. I am trying to get reassigned to Abe." She revealed after a few seconds silence.

My eyes widened. Since when did my mom try and change what the Guardian council had assigned her. I thought she was the kind of person who lived for her job, no matter who she was assigned to. I realised I had been wrong about a lot of things when it came to my mother. "Awesome." I smiled at her.

"It means I will be able to come and see you more as well." She informed me.

I smiled. It meant a lot to me that she actually did want to be a part of my life. "I'm glad."

"Are you staying for tea tonight?" Dimitri asked.

"If you're inviting." Abe replied.

Dimitri laughed. "Of course."

"Then we would love too."

We all smiled and turned our heads to watch Paul playing happily. After a couple of minutes my mom and Abe said they had to go. They had 'things to do'. Personally, I didn't even want to know.

Once they had left, I repositioned myself, plonking myself onto Dimitri's lap instead. He chuckled, but wrapped his arms round me anyway. "Paul looks like he's having fun." I said, looking over to where Paul was now playing by himself. All the other people had left.

"Yeah." Dimitri agreed.

"You know we would have been having some fun to if people hadn't rudely interrupted us." I teased, turning around so I was now straddling his legs. His hands moved to grip my hips.

"I don't see anyone to stop us this time." Dimitri reasoned.

I smirked. "I don't think I would stop even if someone did interrupt." I joked as I lowered my lips to his awaiting ones.

He smiled against me as our kiss built up in passion. Our lips moved in sync as he gripped my hips slightly harder. We both new were only going to be kissing in a park - in the day time anyway.

We kept kissing and kissing, heat flowing between us, until Paul seemed to realise what we were doing. "EWW!" He cried. "Uncle Dimka why are you kissing Rose like that! It's disgusting. She's a girl!" He said incredulously.

Laughing, we broke apart to look at the horrified expression on Paul's face. "Sorry Paul." Dimitri said, innocently.

I tried to smother the smile that wanted to break out onto my face. "Can we go home now?" Paul asked.

Dimitri nodded and we got up off the bench. Paul was tired now, so Dimitri carried him. He fell asleep pretty quickly. I smiled at his sleeping figure as I walked beside Dimitri.

Despite not really wanting to go, I had had a great time.


	11. Chapter 11

_I KNOW I KNOW! I have been absolutely ages updating this story! I have had tons of school work and I am currently attempting to memorise my French Coursework. I have put my other story on hold until I finish Heartbreak and Happiness so I should be able to update quicker. _

_This chapter is quite short and I'm sorry! I hope you think it's alright, I'm not very good at writing these kind of things. _

_Thank you for all the reviews, they have been amazing and once again I really am sorry about the wait. By the way, if anyone has played Fable 2 or 3, you should check out the stories for them on here, there are some really good ones :) _

_PLEASE REVIEW :')_

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Chapter Eleven…

Everyone had gone out for their dinner, leaving me, Dimitri, my Mom and Abe in the house by ourselves.

I hadn't dressed up, but I wasn't wearing my workout clothes either. Dimitri had cooked, a talent I didn't know he had. A talent I also planned to abuse as much as possible, due to my lack of cooking knowledge.

We were currently sat in a rather uncomfortable silence around the table. I was wolfing down my food, of course, so I didn't have time to speak anyway. Everyone else was eating politely. Dimitri kept shooting me amused glances.

"Seriously, since when have you known how to cook." I exclaimed once I had finished, resisting the urge to lick my fingers, even though I had eaten with a knife and fork.

He chuckled. "There are lots of things you don't know about me Rose." He answered mysteriously.

I laughed and turned my attention back to my mom and Abe. My mother looked uncomfortable about something, whilst Abe was wearing his usual smirk.

I wondered what was wrong with her. She had never seemed so fidgety before. I decided to leave it, knowing she would tell me if it was important.

"So, me and Abe wanted to tell you something." She began, obviously noticing my apparently not-so-subtle curious glance. "We're…together." She managed to get out after a nervous pause.

My immediate reaction was to point a finger at Dimitri. "I told you!" I cried, victoriously.

He laughed. My mother looked dumbfounded. "What?" She asked, seeming slightly annoyed now.

"I told Dimitri you were together from the start, but he didn't believe me. 'Just because your mom is friends with someone it doesn't mean that they're together.'" I mimicked him. "Weren't you wrong." I teased, jabbing him in the arm playfully.

He grinned. "I get it, you were right."

I chuckled some more and then looked back over to the 'happy couple'. Abe was laughing quietly to himself whilst my mother still looked a bit peeved. "That's not all." She was hesitant again now. "I…I…" She stuttered. Whatever she was about to say seemed like it was hard than her previous revelation. "I'm getting reassigned to Abe." She came up with a minute later.

I attempted to raise my eyebrow at her. "You already told me that."

She laughed nervously. "Oh? Did I?"

She obviously knew she had already told me that. I could tell by the way she was still shifting uncomfortably in her seat and the awkward laugh she just gave. She had bottled it and avoided whatever she was going to tell me, which just peeked my curiosity even more.

I decided not to push it and just responded with a clearly disbelieving response. She knew I hadn't bought it.

The rest of the dinner, she managed to talk constantly, keeping my attention diverted away from her secret. By the end of the night, I had just about forgotten. That is until she had left and I remembered why she had been so talkative.

"She's hiding something from me." I informed Dimitri. "And don't even try to deny it. You know it just as well as me."

He sighed, but nodded. "You're right. She _is _hiding something from you. Something big."

He was right. It was something big, otherwise she wouldn't be so paranoid. Surely it couldn't be much bigger than her being in a relationship. I would have been gob smacked if I hadn't already figured it out.

"I need to find out Dimitri. It's killing me, not knowing, already!" I whinged. I hated being kept from things. Especially important things.

We were stood at the bottom of the stairs now and Dimitri pulled me towards him with my hips. "You don't need to worry Roza." He whispered to me, huskily. "She will tell you when she's ready. But, right now, the house is empty." He pointed out the obvious fact. "Apart from us."

His breath tickled my ear and my breathing hitched at what he was implying. Since we had been together the first time, we had done little in the area of sexual activity and we were both feeling the tension. Aside from teasing Viktoria that day, we had barely done anything.

His lips touched my skin as they began to kiss along my jaw and towards my lips. Just before he brought his lips to mine, he spoke. "I think we need to go upstairs." Then, despite his suggestion, he kissed me passionately.

Our lips moved in sync as he pushed me forcefully, but not painfully, against a wall. I wasn't sure which wall it was, but I didn't care. I was too busy relishing the feel of his lips against mine. The power our kisses held was incredible. I never wanted them to stop.

When we broke away, we were out of breath and panting heavily. Dimitri leaned his forehead against mine. "I really do think we should go upstairs." He urged, gripping my hand and moving his body away from mine. The loss of contact made us both hurry up the stair and into our bedroom. Instantly, his body was back against mine as I was, in turn, pushed against the recently closed door.

Our lips found each other's frantically and we kissed passionately. It had only been a week since I had last kissed Dimitri this forwardly and I had been missing it like crazy; I wondered how I had lasted so long without him before.

His fingers began to play with the bottom of my top until he was too out of breath to kiss me anymore. Breaking his lips away from mine, he whipped the t-shirt over my head and flung it to the other side of the room.

I copied his actions while I caught my breath. Our kissing then picked up again, but I pushed backwards, guiding Dimitri towards the bed. The bottom of his legs found the edge and I gave him one more gentle shove. We both collapsed backwards and onto the bed behind us.

I roamed my hands over Dimitri's now exposed chest, feeling him grip me harder in response. Rolling us over, I was now trapped underneath him. Fiddling with his trousers, I pushed them down his legs. He kicked them off from around his ankles and they joined our t-shirts on the floor.

I arched my back into his and he undid the clasp holding my bra to my chest. It fell loose and he slung it across the room. His lips left mine and began to trail kisses towards my newly exposed breasts.

While he took his time reaching them with his mouth, his hands temporarily filled the space, needing and caressing them. I gasped out loud when his mouth finally reached its destination, sucking lightly then biting down softly. My gasp was shortly followed with a much louder moan and whispering of his name.

Only his boxers were left to restrain the clearly visible throbbing erection and I liked the idea of getting rid of them. Dimitri had other plans though. He began to fiddle with the top off my trousers, undoing the button and pulling them down my legs. I copied Dimitri's previous actions and kicked my trousers from around my ankles.

Flipping us over, I now straddled Dimitri, determined to get his boxers off. I ran my hands down his chest, getting lower and lower… When my hands finally reached the top of them, I pushed them down slowly, making sure I touched his erection. I chuckled to myself when I heard his drawn out moan.

His fingers expertly hooked themselves in the top of my panties, obviously about to return the favour. Caressing my thighs as he went, he brought my panties down my legs, flinging them across the room when they were clear from my body.

We were now completely naked. This was the third time I had been stark naked with Dimitri, including the lust spell, but unlike the first two times, I _wasn't _nervous. No, this time I was simply filled with undeniable desire, passion and love. I would never get bored of being with Dimitri, but I wondered if I would have the opportunity to. Would it last long enough to for me to even think of getting bored.

I sighed mentally. It wasn't as if I ever _would _get bored of him, just the thought we might not be together forever was enough to get me worried and kiss him that bit more frantically.

Right now though, I was definitely making the most of it. Our mouths and hands exploring every part of each other.

When the urge finally became too much however, Dimitri grabbed my hips, lowering my gently until his tip was just at my entrance. He asked me with is eyes if he was okay to enter me. Instead of giving him a verbal answer, I slid down his shaft, burying him deep inside me and eliciting a moan from both of us.

When we were both done, I laid on his stomach, tracing random patterns up and down his arms and chest. I was utterly exhausted. I yawned involuntarily. "Do you think your family stayed out extra late on purpose." I asked, chuckling.

Dimitri laughed, his body shaking underneath me. "I don't care, I'm just glad they stayed out. I can guarantee I have never had as great a time as that before."

I placed a gentle kiss on his lips. "Me too." I agreed, whole heartedly.

"I love you." I whispered, meaning every word.

"I love you too." He returned, showing clearly by the emotion in his voice that he meant it. "So much."

I fell asleep shortly after that; wrapped up in Dimitri's arms, completely naked and completely content.

* * *

"Eww." I vaguely heard Viktoria shriek. "Are you actually naked in there?"

My eyes flew open and I found myself looking straight at Dimitri's bare chest. Swivelling my head round, I saw Viktoria's disgusted face observing the room. Our clothes were scattered everywhere. I laughed out loud when I saw that my pants were actually hanging half out the open window across the room. I didn't realise Dimitri had thrown them that far.

"Sorry." I managed to get out, not sounding like I meant it at all. I giggled at her still revolted expression.

"You two are _repulsive._ Couldn't you have at least cleaned your clothes up?" She questioned, trying to decide where to look in the room. I was covered up completely by the covers and only Dimitri's chest was showing. He was still sleeping soundly, not disturbed by Viktoria's complaints.

"We were in the spur of the moment." I teased, snickering when I saw her face twist in disgust.

"Rose!" She whined. "I don't want to know these things. I'm just going to leave and pretend I haven't witnessed what this room looks like."

She stalked off and left me here chuckling at her. She slammed the door, successfully waking Dimitri up. "What's all the racket about?" He inquired groggily, looking around the room and laughing.

"Viktoria came in and didn't like what she saw." I informed him.

He laughed harder now and brought me closer with the arm that was draped around my waist. "I think we might need to clean up." He teased.

"Me too." I agreed. "But, not yet. I want to stay in bed."

He grinned and made no attempt to move anywhere.


	12. Chapter 12

_Back again! Already! I know, I'm shocked too. _

_I know you have been waiting a while for this, so here it is! _

_Thanks for all the reviews! They are amazing! _

_I was also wondering, when Rose and Dimitri return to the Academy, should Viktoria go with them?

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Chapter Twelve…

After we finally got up and cleaned the room, it was nearly lunchtime. We walked downstairs, both happy after what we had been doing last night.

Viktoria pulled a face as we came downstairs and I grinned cheekily. "Morning you two." Olena greeted us happily. "Did you have fun last night?" She asked, innocently, obviously not realising what we had done and how her comment fitted in with the nature of what we had been doing perfectly.

"Please don't ask them that. I really don't want the details." Viktoria cried.

Olena raised an eyebrow at her. It must be a talent all Belikov's possessed. "What?" She asked, clearly amused.

"You didn't go in their room this morning." She shuddered and me and Dimitri both laughed at her.

Olena had cottoned on now and a light blush spread across her cheeks. "Your mother and Abe rang up this morning. They wondered if you would like to go out with them today?" She informed us, trying to avoid the previous topic.

"Oh." I said, surprised. Maybe she had plucked up the courage to tell me what seemed to be so important. "Sure, that would be cool. Did they say what time they would be coming round?"

"In a couple of hours."

I nodded and went to get some well needed food. I never missed breakfast, because normally I had to get up for training. I never had lie ins.

After we had eaten, Dimitri decided that it was time to do some training. We hadn't been sticking to a strict schedule like I had expected and were just doing it when we felt like it - or when Dimitri felt like it.

After running we stood opposite each other in the back yard. Our positions reflecting each other as we waited for who was going to strike first. We had done a couple of spars with Dimitri's family watching, both of us winning some of them. This time though, only Paul was watching from the sidelines. His eyes were wide and eager. I knew he loved to watch us spar.

While I was glancing at Paul adoringly, Dimitri noticed my distraction. Lunging at a ridiculously high speed, he aimed a kick to my leg. I tried to dodge, but he still caught my leg. I did, however, manage to avoid the full brunt of the attack.

I instantly righted myself, returning a punch to his arm, hitting the mark precisely.

I was still surprised how quickly I had learnt and how well Dimitri had been able to teach me. I highly doubted anyone but Dimitri would be able to do this for me. I listened to Dimitri and I didn't doubt his decisions. I had a feeling that if it was anyone else trying to teach me, I would just be back chatting them the whole time. But, most of all, it was that Dimitri understood me. He knew that I wanted to be the best guardian I could, so he taught me properly.

We were using our moves against each other, something we had learnt to do a while ago. We could predict each others moves and anticipate what was about to happen. It made the fight more interesting and longer.

Dimitri gained the victory this time though. He used his brute strength, height and weight against me. The three things I could never compare to. Seeing his opening, he charged against me, ploughing me to the floor.

My wrists were pinned above my head and Dimitri straddled my waist, isolating my movement completely. "I win." He whispered.

Since our second time last night, I had felt even closer to him - something I didn't think could be possible. But even with him sat on top of me right now, I felt the overwhelming urge to kiss him. I could tell just by the look in his eyes he was having pretty much the same thought process.

Just as he began to lean down, Paul clapped vigorously, successfully ruining our moment. We both chuckled though and looked over to where he was sat smiling widely, having clearly enjoyed the fight.

"That was awesome. I hope _I _can fight like that when I'm older." He informed us, grinning.

"I'm sure you will be a great guardian Paul." Dimitri said, warmly.

Paul got up from where he was sat and headed inside, leaving me and Dimitri, who still hadn't moved from our positions. "He's so cute."

"Yeah. He is." Dimitri agreed. "Almost as cute as you."

I blushed ever so slightly, but laughed and teased him. "Don't you think that was a bit cheesy Comrade?"

He chuckled and leant down to kiss me, having no interruptions this time. It didn't start out as a passionate kiss, but it still turned into one.

An annoyed knock on the window was the thing to break us out of our trance this time and we both turned to look at Viktoria's repulsed expression through the window.

Both laughing, Dimitri got up and offered me a hand. We needed to have a shower before my mom and Abe came by. I still wondered if she planned to tell me her big secret today.

After walking up the stairs and having a very _entertaining _shower, it was time for my mom to arrive. Me and Dimitri had taken a shower together and when your trying to be quite quick, that is not a good idea. Me and Dimitri naked together, in a shower, is _very _fun. We didn't have sex, but it didn't stop us messing about.

When we walked downstairs, trying to hide that grins we wanted to show, my mother and Abe were already here. They were sitting together on the sofa and holding hands.

As disturbing as it was to imagine my mother in any kind of relationship, I had to admit that they looked good together. I just wondered about their past. I know Abe had said they knew each other a long time ago, but it seemed like they had not just recently found their feelings towards each other. When you saw how they looked at each other, it was like a dimmed down version of how me and Dimitri were. I couldn't imagine that they had only decided to start a relationship recently. They had a colourful past that I hadn't been told about.

"Hey Mom. Hey Abe." I greeted them, plonking myself ungracefully down on the couch opposite them. Dimitri did the exact opposite and sat down next to me, elegant like always.

"Hey you two." Abe replied.

"So, what are we doing today?" I asked, curious as to what they had planned.

"We were thinking of going sight-seeing or just generally getting out of the house." My mom responded, almost nervously. She had been really on edge since we'd come downstairs, and probably before in anticipation. It was really nagging me as to what could be so important.

"Sounds cool." I decided, standing up as I'm guessing she planned to leave as soon as possible.

They all followed suit and we soon walking around some random city, Novosibirsk I think. We had taken Abe's car, which was big and expensive, and were now 'sight seeing' and being trailed by Abe's guardians. He had insisted that we were off duty and needed to 'enjoy ourselves' so had his guardians come along.

Me and Dimitri were holding hands, something I relished in. I loved the fact that no one here cared. No one knew how wrong our relationship was and looked at us like any other couple who were clearly in love. It was going to be hard returning to the Academy and returning to the secrecy.

As much as I missed Lissa and the rest of my friends, I was definitely seeing the advantages of staying in Russia forever. I wished it would be that easy if I wanted it to happen.

We had lagged behind slightly and I spoke quietly to Dimitri. "What do you think their past is?"

He shot me a confused glance. "I don't know, why?"

I shrugged. "It's just kind of obvious this isn't the first time they've had a relationship. Abe said they've known each other since before I was born. That's a _long _time. I'm just trying to put the pieces together. I want to know what she's hiding from me. It's doing my head in." I explained.

Dimitri wrapped a comforting arm around my shoulder, pulling me in closer to his side. "She'll tell you when she's ready. And about their past, she'll tell you about that either when you ask her, or when she wants too."

I sighed. "I know she will. I just wish she could tell me straight away. It can't be that important." It hurt to think that maybe she thought she couldn't trust me with whatever it was. I wanted her to be able to tell me anything, like a normal mother and daughter. I don't think we could ever be a normal mother and daughter, but it didn't hurt to try.

"She does trust you." Dimitri whispered. "She is just building up the courage to do it. You can see yourself how nervous she is. It must be important. You need to be patient."

I snorted. "We both know that's not one of my strong points."

Dimitri chuckled. "Well then you will just have to let it nag at you until she tells you."

My mom and Abe were also talking quietly to each other. They were holding hands and were stood close together, just like us. They were talking in hushed tones, not wanting to be overheard.

"He knows." I informed Dimitri.

He raised an eyebrow at me. "What?"

"He knows whatever my mom is going to tell me."

"How can you be sure?" He inquired, not doubting me exactly, just wondering how I could be so certain.

"He looks kind of anxious as well. They are talking about it now, I bet. Look, he just gave her hand a comforting squeeze." It was exactly what Dimitri did for me whenever I was worrying about something.

"Your right." He agreed. "Which means that he is probably involved in whatever he secret is as well."

I nodded. "This is killing me." I whined. "I want to just know already!"

Dimitri laughed and we caught up to where they were standing and had finished talking.

The rest of the day was good. It was nice to spend time with my mother. It turned out there were lots of little things that I never knew about her, that I probably should have. Things like her favourite food. It was only small, but somehow it was significant. Everyone else would know what their mother's favourite food was.

We were now sat in some fancy restaurant and eating heartily. My mother had loosened up throughout the day, but had gone back to looking pale and scared now.

She coughed, breaking the silence which had begun to get awkward. "Rose. There's some things I need to talk to you about. Some things you should know."

"Eventually." I muttered, only loud enough for Dimitri, who was sitting next to me, to hear. He grabbed my hand under the table as a soothing gesture, but shot me a look which meant that I wasn't to make this any harder for my mom than it appeared already.

"Me and Abe, we go way back. This isn't the first time we have been in a relationship." She began. "We went our separate ways about 17 years ago and I have only been speaking to him again recently." She explained, looking as though she was building up to a climax in the story.

She paused now and looked down at her hands then at Abe uncomfortably, as if she was asking what to say next.

"Me and your mother went in different directions for many reasons. She had to follow her charge and I had business to attend to." He spoke.

"Where is all this leading too?" I asked, trying not to sound too impatient.

"Abe is…" She took a deep breath and grabbed his hand.

"Abe is your father."


	13. Chapter 13

_Yes, I am amazed too, updating already! My school has been off the last couple of days because of the snow so I have been writing. An extra long chapter as well! _

_I'm still curious as to who wants Viktoria to return to the Academy with them. _

_Thank you for all the reviews, they've been awesome! Over 300 now! It's amazing! Please review and I hope you enjoy it!

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Chapter Thirteen…

I stared at her, completely gob smacked. Did she just say that? That man is my father. I couldn't contend with it. How was I supposed to deal with something this big? All my life I had gone without both my parents, not even knowing my father existed really. I just assumed he was a one night stand or something.

I still hadn't said anything and everyone was looking at me expectantly, waiting for a reaction other than my mouth hanging open unattractively. Dimitri squeezed my hand reassuringly and rubbed soothing circles into it.

I didn't know what to say. I just couldn't come up with a response. The only thing I could manage to utter out was. "Dimitri," before pulling him outside with me.

He wrapped me in a warm embrace and spoke soothing words to me in Russian. "I know it's a lot to take in." He said, calmly. "Do you want to go home?" He asked, knowing I wasn't in any state to deal with this.

I nodded weakly. "I'm going to go and tell them, stay here." He ordered, but not harshly.

He came back a minute later and wrapped an arm around my waist, guiding me towards a car. A guardian who I'm guessing was Abe's - I mean 'dad's' - opened the door for us and got into the drivers seat. At least he had got us a lift back.

I curled up into Dimitri's side, my mind still swimming with the new information. Was I supposed to just accept him straight away? I was okay with the fact he was with my mother, but this was just too much. I didn't know anything about him and then here he is, my mother trying to tell me he's my father.

"I don't know what to think Dimitri." I said, quietly.

He rubbed his hand up and down my back. "I know. You just need some time to process it." He reassured me.

We got back to the Belikov's house, but I wasn't really sure how long it had taken. I just felt tired and upset.

It wasn't too late when we got back, though, I knew that. Everyone was still sat in the living room you had to walk through to get to the stairs.

I was greeted with curious glances and confused looks, but I ignored them and went upstairs, Dimitri following close behind.

I stripped off and didn't bother with pajamas - I was too tired. Laying down underneath the covers, Dimitri sat next to me. "Go to sleep. You might have a better look on the issue once you've had a good nights sleep." He soothed softly.

I nodded and was out in a matter of minutes, not before muttering an "I love you" to Dimitri, like I did everyday.

DPOV.

I sat and stroked her hair for a couple of minutes, wondering what was going on in her mind. When I thought about it, they did look kind of similar, it was something you would only recognize if you knew. There personalities were also similar. I always wondered where Rose's sarcastic side came from, because it certainly wasn't from her mother. I don't know how I would have taken such big news, especially under the stress Rose is at the moment with the Strigoi attacks. She looked so peaceful when she slept and I couldn't help but admire her.

I headed back downstairs, to explain to my obviously confused family. I didn't know what to say exactly, though. Would Rose want me to tell my family, or did she want to do it herself?

I sighed and carried on down to the room where everyone was talking in hushed tones. As soon as I entered the room, talking ceased and I was instead given anxious looks, asking for me to explain.

I sat down heavily in a chair, waiting for someone to ask.

"What happened." Viktoria inquired, giving into her curiosity.

"Well…" They all looked at me expectantly, not accepting 'well' as an answer. "Abe is Rose's dad." I decided to just come out with it and deal with the onslaught of questions afterwards.

Looking around the room, everyone's expressions were a mixture of utter shock and amazement. They looked as though they wanted to say something, they just didn't know what.

"Wow." Karolina spoke. "I was _not _expecting that."

Everyone nodded in agreement. "What…? When…?" Olena stuttered.

"We both knew than Janine was hiding something from Rose and today, well today, she told her." I explained. "Rose is just in shock. She doesn't know what to think."

"I don't know what I would think either!" Sonya exclaimed. "I can see the resemblance though."

"I just hope she is okay in the morning." I sighed. "I'm going to go to bed now, I just think you needed to know what had happened."

After walking upstairs, I stripped off to my boxers and climbed into bed next to Rose, automatically pulling her into my arms. I hoped she would have recovered in the morning, I didn't like it when she was upset. I did notice the slight smile gracing her face as my arms wrapped around her.

RPOV

The blackness of my sleep began to change and suddenly, I was stood back on campus. Could he have picked a better day to dream walk me? "Adrian." I announced sharply. "Where are you?" I didn't know why he always bothered to hide until I asked him to reveal himself.

"Here I am Little Dhampir." He greeted warmly, slinging a comfortable arm over my shoulder. "How are you?"

"Shit." I replied, coldly.

He seemed to finally realise my foul mood and came to stand in front of me, studying my face. Then, he began to look deeper and I realised he was studying my aura. "What happened." He demanded, obviously taken aback by whatever my aura had shown him.

"I found out who my dad is." I deadpanned, my expression not changing from one of hardness.

That really had stumped him. I was guessing he thought it was something to do with Dimitri, seeing as though it normally is. "What?" He spluttered, being the only word he could get out.

"Yup. My 'father'. I haven't really updated you on any of the drama going on, have I?" I realised. I had only spoken to Adrian once since I'd been here.

"Nope. I have no idea what's been happening at all." He stated, before sitting down on a bench that had magically appeared behind me and patting the spot next to him. "So sit down and spill."

I sighed, but sat down heavily next to him. "First thing you should know, Me and Dimitri are together."

I saw him flinch, but there was no other signs of discomfort that he showed. The only thing that did worry me though, was the hint of achievement in his eyes. "Well that's no surprise." He muttered.

"And my mother is here."

"Now _that,_ I _am _surprised about." He responded, clearly shocked. "Does she know about you and Dimitri?"

"Yeah, she kind of caught us when she first arrived. We weren't exactly expecting her to just walk through the door." I remarked. "Mind you, she wasn't expecting me to be there either."

Adrian raised an eyebrow. "Why was she there then? And didn't she kick Dimitri's arse? That would have been something I enjoyed watching." He chuckled.

I laughed. "No she didn't beat him up in anyway, not that she didn't try however. She was there because she was visiting _Abe_. He knows the Belikov's." I couldn't help the distaste that leaked into my voice at my new found father's name.

"Who's Abe?" Adrian inquired.

"Abe Mazur he's m-" I began.

"_Abe Mazur_, you've got to be kidding me. You know Abe Mazur!"

I cut off his rambling. "What's so great about him?" I asked.

"He's like some mob boss who nobody messes with. Have you really not heard of him? Apparently he does a lot of illegal business, but I'm not sure how much of that is rumours." He explained.

I exploded. "My dad is an illegal mobster!" I shrieked, horrified.

Adrian paled and looked at me, clearly disbelieving. "Your father is Abe Mazur…" He trailed off. "Wow. Well you officially have badass parents. I thought Janine was bad, but…"

I chuckled. "He can't be that well known, I've never heard of him." I stated. "Besides, he's now my mom's boyfriend and my father."

Adrian seemed to be brought back to reality now and gave my shoulder a comforting squeeze. "Are you okay? This can hardly be easy for you."

I shrugged. "It's not. It's horrible. I have no idea what to do! I don't know whether to just accept the fact he is finally in my life, or to hate him because he wasn't there in the first place."

Adrian seemed to think this over. "It's your choice, but I think you should get the facts before you decide. How much have you been told?"

"I walked out after I heard the words 'Abe is your father'. So I don't really know anything." I admitted.

"Well then I think you need to find out everything that happened. _Everything. _You can only make a proper decision when you have all the facts." He reasoned.

I sighed. He was right. I just didn't know if I wanted all the facts. It would surely be easier to ignore this without all of the knowledge I could have. "You're right. I just don't know if I'm ready to know everything."

Adrian tightened his grip around my shoulder. "You will be fine. As much as I hate to admit it, Dimitri will be there for you and I know he would never let anything happen to you. I'm here for you too, don't forget that." He added on. I did know Adrian was here for me, I just felt guilty coming to him because I know how he felt about me.

He began to fade now. "Just find out all the facts." He urged. "I will see you soon Little Dhampir!" His fading voice informed me.

I waved before he was gone completely and then woke up. Adrian was right. I did need to know everything before I could make a proper decision. I didn't want to hurt him, but he had hurt me. I didn't know if I could ever forgive him for missing out on my life.

I looked next to me where Dimitri was sleeping soundly, his arm draped protectively around my waist. Adrian was also right about that. Dimitri would always be here for me, at least I hoped he would, and he would help me with this. I would never be alone in making my decisions or following them through.

I had lots of friends here for me. Including Lissa. I hadn't been into Lissa's head more than a couple of times whilst I had been here, and felt mildly guilty about it. I had been keeping a tab on her emotions, like always, but nothing extreme had happened - other than the Strigoi searching the school for me.

I decided now would be a good time to see what was going on back at the Academy. Focusing on the bond alone, I slipped into her head.

My friends were all sat around Adrian's room. They must have been there when Adrian was dream walking me. He was back to reality now, like me, and sat facing the group. "How is she? I am missing her so much." Lissa gushed. Oh, they had used Adrian to see how I was doing. I wondered why he had picked tonight to talk to me.

I watched Adrian through Lissa's eyes curiously. Would he tell them about my latest dilemma? "She's fine." Apparently not. I was grateful for this, I wanted to tell them myself, when I had made the decision. If I decided not to bother with him, I was tempted to just not tell them anything at all. "Her mother is there though."

Everyone's eyes widened. "What?" Lissa squeaked. She knew how much I hadn't liked my mother and was worried it might have ruined my trip. "What is she doing there?"

"She is taking a vacation and visiting her friend who knows the Belikov's so it was a coincidence really." Adrian explained, partially, missing out the major details.

"How is she taking it? We all know how much she dislikes Janine." Christian spoke for the first time. He was sitting close to Lissa, his arm draped around her shoulder in a relaxed fashion.

"She seems fine. I think that she is getting on better with her, she's talked to her while she's been there." Adrian replied, kind of guessing since I hadn't really talked about my mother, more about Abe.

"How many Strigoi has she taken down so far?" Eddie questioned.

I also realised I hadn't told Adrian about the Strigoi targeting me. That was a good idea, I decided. Adrian would just be worried and he would no doubt tell Lissa. Which would worry her even more. I didn't want people to be worried, I just wanted to ignore it and hope that it would go away. That seemed unlikely, however.

"I don't know, she never mentioned it." Adrian replied, obviously curious. "She probably hasn't had any. I doubt somewhere with lots of dhampirs is going to be targeted." He reasoned.

"Yeah, good point." Eddie replied, shrugging. "You will have to ask her next time."

Just as Adrian was opening his mouth to respond, I was pulled from Lissa's head by Dimitri shaking my shoulders. When I blinked rapidly and focused on his face, he looked slightly amused. "How's Lissa?" He asked.

I nodded, "Yeah, she's fine. Nothing interesting has happened there."

He looked happy that there had been no more Strigoi activity and everyone was okay. "Shall we go and get some breakfast?" He inquired, clearly avoiding the inevitable topic.

"Sure." I grinned, getting up and throwing on some clothes.

We walked downstairs in comfortable silence to find only Viktoria sat at the table, eating some cereal. Dimitri went straight into the kitchen to make us something to eat. "Hey." I greeted her, smiling.

She looked up and said hey back. Then she seemed to realise something. "Hey, are you okay? Dimitri told us last night about the whole Abe thing." She asked, genuinely concerned.

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay. It's just taking some time to settle in." Dimitri came back into the room then and placed some cereal down in front of me. "I was talking to Adrian last night." I told him.

He raised an eyebrow questioningly. I didn't miss the spark of jealousy in his eyes though. I think he knew he could never be replaced with Adrian, but everyone had their insecurities. "What did he want?" He asked, slightly bitterly.

"He was checking up on me for Lissa." I responded. "I told him about Abe."

Dimitri looked slightly surprised. "What did he say?"

"He told me I need to know all the facts before I make any decisions. He's right. So I am going to invite them over today if that's okay with you?" I explained.

He nodded. "Yeah, I'm reluctant to say that he is right." He admitted.

I chuckled. "Never thought I would see the day you said Adrian was right about something." I teased.

He laughed. "Me neither."

Viktoria butted in then. "Who is Adrian and why do you hate him so much Dimka?"

"Adrian is my friend back in America. We met him at the ski lodge. He wields spirit like Lissa so he came back to the Academy to practice it with her."

Dimitri snorted. "Yeah, that's definitely the only reason he came back to the Academy."

Viktoria raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong with him?"

"Nothing." I said. "He's been a good friend to me. Dimitri's just jealous."

Dimitri chuckled. "Understandably. You know how he feels about you."

I sighed. "Yeah, I do. But he has no chance. Adrian knows that." I assured him.

"I know that too. Doesn't stop him trying though."

Viktoria looked at us curiously and then Dimitri got up to go and wash up the bowl I had just emptied. "So, what's Adrian like then?"

"Adrian Ivashkov, h-"

"Hold up." Viktoria interrupted. "Adrian _Ivashkov, _as in the Queen's great nephew, is in love with you!" She exclaimed.

I nodded. "Yep, pretty much." I replied.

"So, tell me more about him. Your friends sound so cool." She said, awed slightly.

"He is 21, messy brown hair. Drinks and smokes _constantly_. Stylish. Spoilt." I listed Adrian's qualities. "He's a great friend though and he's always been there for me. He wields spirit so he can walk dreams and see auras."

"What do you mean, 'dream walk' and 'see auras'?" She questioned.

"Dream walking is when you can go into someone's dream and talk to them. It's like seeing them in real life, just in a dream. An aura is a band of colour around someone which can tell you about their emotions." I explained as best I could, it was hard for someone who hadn't experienced it, or been told by someone who seen an aura. I still didn't grasp what they were exactly.

She nodded slowly. "So that's how you were talking to him last night?" I nodded. "That's so cool. Does he have anyone bonded to him like Lissa has you?"

I shook my head. "No. Adrian can't heal like Lissa can. The only common ability that they have is being able to use compulsion on Moroi and Dhampir's as well as humans."

"Woah. That _is _cool." She exclaimed.

I nodded. "It comes in handy sometimes."

Dimitri re-entered the room then, cutting off our conversation and holding a phone in his hand. "I rang Janine and Abe. They should be over soon."

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_Please let me know what you think about Viktoria returning to the Academy with them. :D _


	14. Chapter 14

_Next chapter! Thanks for all the reviews I got last chapter and I will definitely be taking your opinions into consideration. They won't be returning to the Academy for a while yet anyway, so I have lots of time to think about what's going to happen there. Hope you enjoy this chapter, it's a bit boring, but I think it needed to be put in :D Please review and keep your opinions coming. I don't mind constructive criticism :)

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Chapter Fourteen…

I sat nervously on the sofa, Dimitri's arm around me, waiting for my parents to arrive. I had no idea what they were going to tell me or how I would react. I could feel the anger that had been infecting me recently surfacing and I knew it wouldn't help me at all. "Dimitri. I can feel it. That anger that's been plaguing me." I spoke softly to him.

He grasped my hand and placed his other one on my cheek. "Don't worry. I'm here. It's all going to be okay." He reassured me.

I nodded, but didn't really believe him. I had no idea what was going to happen. I did feel a bit better and relaxed with him sat next to me though. A knock on the door made my jump and Dimitri chuckled lightly before getting up to answer it.

My parents walked in and sat down on the other side of the room looking almost as anxious as I felt. There hands were joined together as they looked at me, waiting to see what I was going to say. "I want you to tell me everything." I demanded.

Dimitri had come to sit down again now and I leaned into his side, waiting for them to start. "When I left school, I met Abe and we fell in love." My mom began. Wow, nothing like going into detail. "Then I fell pregnant, so I had to stop guarding my charge and I moved into Abe's. We lived together until you were about 3."

Wow. I had lived with both of my parents until I was three. It was too far back for me to remember, but I felt somehow disappointed I couldn't remember it. I had never had both my parents in my life. I had barely had one. Surely one childhood memory wouldn't have been too much to ask for.

"I started guarding again when you were three and Abe had lots of business to do. We went our separate ways and you went to the Academy."

I snorted. "You sent me to the Academy because you both had _business _to do. I don't see why you couldn't have visited. It's not like you couldn't have taken vacation." I argued.

This had turned into more than just why Abe hadn't been in my life. This was to do with my mother as well now. Abe wasn't the only one who had abandoned me. They were almost as bad as each other.

"Don't blame Abe for that." My mom told me. "I told him not to get involved in your life. I didn't want you to be a part of his world. It was dangerous when you were younger. Abe did a lot of dodgy business, but that's all stopped now. You would have been in danger if Abe had known you." She explained.

I shook my head. "So your saying that your 'dodgy business' was more important than your daughter then. Otherwise you would have packed it in in the first place." I responded harshly. There was no way they could get out of this one. I had them cornered. Either way, they had been bad parents.

Abe nodded. "Your right. I made a big mistake. I should have given everything up to be in your life. You don't realise how much I regret not being there for you." He spoke with such sincerity and I knew he was telling the truth, but I couldn't quite get past my bitterness yet.

"You don't realise how much I despise you both for not being here." I hissed.

Dimitri rubbed soothing circles on my hand, trying to calm me down. He knew I was being slightly irrational with my anger, but I couldn't control it.

"You're right, but this is my fault more than Abe's. You should at least give him a chance." She tried to reason with me.

"You say it as if the old man has no control over anything! You might be scary, but your not that bad." I retorted. Dimitri chuckled beside me and it made me smile a bit.

"Can you just give me a chance?" He asked.

I sighed, could I give him a chance? Was it worth risking being hurt even more? I guess it was. I had never had a father. I might as well let him try and be my dad. "I suppose. You have a lot of making up to do." I warned.

He nodded. "No problem little girl."

I glared at him. "Seeing as though I am the one allowing you to see me, doesn't that mean I can also stop you calling me 'little girl'." I joked.

He shook his head. "As long as you call me 'old man', I call you 'little girl'."

I laughed. "Fair enough."

We carried on talking for the rest of the day, finding out things I never knew about my mother, my old man and even Dimitri. The Belikov's stayed out of the house all day, giving us our privacy and allowing us to relax.

By the end of the day, I realised I had made the right decision in allowing him into my life. Sure, I was still wary around him and I wasn't going to open up to him like I would a proper father, but he was still there. There was no point denying us both a relationship now because of the past. He genuinely wanted to be in my life and as long as he didn't let me down again, he could be. I just hoped we could form some kind of father-daughter bond and maybe be like a relatively normal vampire family where my boyfriend was my mentor; my mother was a well known guardian and my father was some kind of illegal mobster who people were terrified of. Maybe it would work out.

They left just before dinner and me and Dimitri were by ourselves again. Still cuddled up on the sofa I turned to face him. "I think I did the right thing." I told him.

"Me too." He agreed.

I moved from being sat next to him to straddling his lap. My face was now centimetres away from his own and I could feel his breath on my face. "Thank you for being here. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't have been here to calm me down."

He chuckled and moved his face even closer to mine. "No problem, but I have to admit, with you sitting there, I'm hardly calming down." He put his hands on my hips and pulled me fully against him.

"I don't think I want you to calm down." I teased back. He chuckled and brought our lips together. My hands found his hair and our kiss deepened. One hand stayed on my hip whilst the other went to my lower back, bringing me even closer. Our lips were moving in sync, passion flowing between us…until the door opened.

I heard Paul's 'ewww's' and Viktoria complaining about always having to see 'this'. I chuckled and pulled back, not moving from my position straddling Dimitri's lap however.

"Is everything sorted out?" Olena asked, walking into the room.

I spun around so I was now sat on Dimitri's lap and people weren't avoiding looking at us. "Yeah, it's all good." I replied smiling.

"I'm glad. You did give him a chance didn't you? I know he is a good man." She informed me.

I nodded. "Yeah, I did give him a chance."

She smiled at me and then went to put what was in the bags she was carrying away. I guess they went shopping whilst we were talking and then kissing. "Hey Dimitri, do you think I should ring Lissa up and tell her about my dad, or wait until I get back?" I questioned. I was dying to tell her, but I didn't know if it was something you could really say over the phone.

"It's your decision, but you know you can always borrow my phone." He told me.

I weighed it up before snatching the phone he had retrieved from his pocket. "I will call her." I grinned.

"I am going to go and help my mother." He decided before leaving me by myself to make the call.

I checked the bond to make sure she wasn't busy before dialling the number and waiting for her to pick up. "Hello." She answered the phone politely.

"Hey Liss." I replied happily. I hadn't spoken to Lissa in ages and I was really looking forward to having a proper chat with her.

"Rose?" She asked, as if she wasn't already positive it was me. "Rose! Oh my gosh! How are you? Are you having fun in Russia?" She gushed.

"One question at a time Liss." I joked. "I am fine, I am having a great time in Russia and I just got some _really _interesting news." I responded.

I could feel her intrigue through the bond. "Ooh, spill. Have you met someone there?" She guessed, wondering if I had finally got a boyfriend.

I laughed. "No, nothing like that. I know who my father is." I stated, waiting for the onslaught of questions I knew were about to come.

"What? Oh my god that's great Rose! How did you find that out? How long have you known? Who else knows?" He babbled on and on.

"I know Adrian told you my mother was here."

I could almost see her nodding her head, waiting for me to continue. "Were you in my head?" She asked, slightly annoyed I had invaded her privacy.

"Yes, I went in your head after I had been talking to Adrian." I answered. "Well my mom was visiting this Abe guy and it turns out they are together."

"Your mom has a boyfriend?" Lissa asked, shocked. Whereas she didn't believe my mother was the most antisocial person she has ever met and has no friends never mind a boyfriend, like me, she didn't picture my mom as someone who would be in a relationship. She just seemed to attached to her job.

"Yup. She even switched charges so that she's his charge instead." I explained.

"A _Moroi _boyfriend? Is he royal?" She questioned.

I don't know why Lissa wondered if he was royal or not. I guess he just wondered how my mom had managed to get reassigned to him, being such a great guardian. "No, his name is Abe Mazur."

Lissa gasped. "I've heard of him. Apparently he nobody messes with him and he was supposedly involved in some illegal business."

"That's exactly what Adrian said!" I claimed.

"You've told Adrian about all of this?" She inquired, slightly miffed he had found out before her. If she was disappointed about him finding this out, god knows how she would take him finding out about me and Dimitri first. "He knows you've found your dad as well?"

"Yeah, we were talking about it last night. He helped me decide what to do about it." I replied. I could tell she was about to question me, so I carried on with the story. "My mom was hiding something, me and Dimitri could both tell, and last night she told me. Abe is my father." I explained.

"Woah. What did you mean when you said you didn't know 'what to do about it'?"

"I didn't know whether or not to give him a chance. I still resent him for not being in my life and I didn't know whether I wanted to start having a relationship with him now."

I could sense her weighing it over. "I think you should give him a chance." She decided.

"I did. Adrian was right when he said I needed to find out all the facts, so I did. Then I realised I was just depriving myself of having a dad, so I gave him a chance."

I could feel Lissa's happiness for me through the bond, but also a bit of jealousy. I had both my parents now, when Lissa didn't have any. She missed her mom and dad and was used to us both being parentless, considering my mother's actions, but now I had a family and she didn't. "Lissa, you still have a family. Me, Christian, Adrian and Eddie." I reassured her.

"I know." She responded. "I just miss them."

"I know." I replied.

We continued to chat mindlessly for a while, sticking to lighter topics and avoiding things that would bring us down. Her and Christian were still going strong, which she was very pleased to tell me about; Adrian was learning spirit well and he had begun to heal plants, something that I wasn't so pleased to hear, still being paranoid that Lissa's magic was making me mad and the school was planning another dance. I wasn't overly fussed about that. School dances just seemed pointless to me. Dimitri would be on duty, not that I would be able to dance properly with him anyway, and listen to Lissa ramble on about it until it started. I suppose the one advantage was that I would get a nice dress out of it.

I hung up after about an hour of chatting when it reached curfew there. It was nice to talk to Lissa again and I had been missing talking mindlessly to someone without having to worry about the many problems I was being faced with.


	15. Chapter 15

_I'm back! I know I haven't updated in a while, but I think I did alright on the French Coursework and I got the best score in our year on the Maths Test I had, so I was happy. _

_This chapter is left on a bit of a cliffhanger and I will try to update as soon as possible. I have a sudden rush of ideas for this story and I hope I can find time to write them up! _

_I have to say that I was a bit disappointed with the number of reviews I got last chapter, only TEN! Please review this time! _

Chapter Fifteen…

Dimitri's arms were wrapped around me in a warm embrace as he snored softly. I traced patterns on his bare chest and wondered if everything was going to be as good today as it had been the last couple of days.

I had been spending all my time with Dimitri, adding various people to the mix. I had been spending time with my parents and Dimitri's family and had got a lot closer to both of them.

We had had no Strigoi trouble and so everything was starting to relax again. Adrian had dream walked me so I had filled him in on my decision to see my dad, I hadn't filled him in on the problem with the Strigoi however, and I was hoping I wasn't going to need to. When we got back to America it would all be forgotten. That's what I was hoping anyway.

Me and Dimitri had had no more alone time and we both were feeling the sexual tension between us. I was starting to wonder how we would actually manage when we got back to the Academy. We had had sex together a few days ago and we already wanted it again. How long would we have to wait when we surrounded by people constantly. We would have to hide our relationship and not spend nearly as much time with each other. Secretive little glances and stolen kisses would be the most we could afford when it came to being back at school. I was dreading returning.

Tonight I was looking forward to, though. Viktoria was going to her friends party tonight and I was going with her. I had brought a couple of party dresses on a whim and some high heels so luckily I was prepared. I couldn't wait to let loose a bit. I had been so stressed recently and having a party would be good for me. I definitely wasn't going to drink - I had decided that already - but it wouldn't stop me having a good time. Dimitri wasn't coming though, that was the only downside. I knew how much he hated the idea of parties and I think he wanted to spend some time with his family, but I would still have preferred him to come with us. Viktoria shared Dimitri's point of view, she didn't want him to come because she thought we would spend the whole party kissing, which was probably true.

Dimitri eyes opened slowly next to me and I grinned at him. "Morning Comrade." I whispered.

"Morning Roza." He replied, still half asleep and groggy.

"What shall we do today then?" I asked, my fingers still swirling across his upper half. "Seeing as though I've already got plans for tonight."

He chuckled. "I'm pretty happy lying here for the moment." He responded. "I like being in bed with you."

I smiled cheekily, rolling over so I was now lying on top of him, my hands resting on the pillow either side of his head. "I can't say I'm complaining either." I teased, bringing my head closer to his, our lips brushing together slightly.

His hands, which had been resting by his side, came up to grab my hips and rub circles into them with his thumbs. I was only wearing one of his t-shirts and some underwear. He had lifted the shirt up, revealing my panties and legs. Our lips found each others in a more passionate kiss this time and our bodies were pressed closer together so that my boobs were up against his chest. He used his hands to bring my hips further into his lap and create friction between them.

My moan was smothered by our kisses before we broke away to breathe. I sat up and allowed him to remove my t-shirt. Now in our underwear (Dimitri only had his boxers on) we resumed kissing, hands roaming over each others bodies.

Although we both knew we could go no further than kissing while his family were still in and had ears, this was getting rid of some of the desire that had been building up between us. I think everyone had realised it was a bad idea to walk into our room now, so being interrupted wasn't likely - being overheard was, however.

He undid the clasp on my bra and allowed it to fall free of my body, then began trailing kisses down towards my breasts. As his mouth engulfed one, I bit back a moan and arched my back into him. He continued this, before moving onto the next one and receiving a sharp gasp out of me.

I wriggled against his lap, receiving the feeling of his now throbbing erection twitching against me. I heard his breathing catch as I writhed against him, grinding our hips together.

His lips left my breast and travelled back up to capture my mouth with his. We didn't even try to remove our last pieces of clothing, in case the temptation was just a bit too much. It didn't, however, stop us enjoying the feel each others bodies for a bit longer. Kissing, touching and holding back the moans and other sounds of desire which wanted to be let loose from our mouths.

After our _very _heated make out session, we lay panting and sweating. "We should do this every morning." I teased, unable to keep the big grin off my face.

"I've got to say I agree." He grinned back. "Now, do you fancy a shower?" He asked, smiling impishly, implying that he planned on spending a _lot _of time in that shower.

"Of course."

Well, I can safely say that that was one of the best showers I have ever had. As well as being completely refreshed, I had had a lot of fun. I was definitely going to miss mornings like this when we were back in America. Dimitri would have to visit his family more often.

It was quite late in the morning now, so when we got downstairs it was lunch being made and not breakfast. Viktoria, Sonya and Karolina were sitting on various chairs and sofas around the lounge. There was one free couch left, which was were me and Dimitri situated ourselves.

"I can't wait for tonight Rose." Viktoria gushed. She really was like a younger version of Lissa, she seemed happy and enthusiastic about everything.

"Same. I haven't been to a proper party for ages!" That was definitely true. The last party I had been too, which wasn't a formal dinner Lissa had dragged me along to, was when Adrian invited us to go swimming. That night hadn't ended well because I had had _far _too much to drink.

"I don't even remember the last party you went to." Dimitri mused.

I smiled sheepishly. "That's because I'm pretty sure I didn't tell you about it."

He raised an eyebrow, asking for me to explain. "When we were at the ski lodge Adrian invited us all to go swimming." I began. "I got kind of drunk though, those drinks he was giving me had more alcohol in than I thought."

"How come I never found out about this?" He asked, curious not accusing.

I chuckled. "We weren't exactly on speaking terms."

He smiled. "Good point."

Sonya and Karolina were talking quietly in Russian to each other, so as not to interrupt us, but Viktoria was listening intently. "Your school sounds so much cooler than ours." She exclaimed. "Nothing interesting ever happens at St. Basil's."

I sighed. "Well anything interesting that ever happens at our school seems to happen to me." Whereas my life might seem like a fairytale to everyone else, it was harder than it seemed when you were living it. All the things I had been through took a toll on you.

"I bet you have secret parties and things all the time there."

I laughed. "Your right, we probably do, but I gave them up a _long _time ago. I'm far to responsible to party now. After all the crap that happened to Lissa and Comrade's influence, I haven't really gotten drunk intentionally or attended a party out of anything other than politeness." I explained. "But, while Lissa isn't here, I have the perfect excuse."

"Anyone who read your record now wouldn't believe you were the same person though." Dimitri teased.

Viktoria raised an eyebrow. "What _were _you like then?" She inquired.

I blushed slightly. "I don't think you want to know." I muttered. "I used to get drunk, sneak out all the time and go to parties, be in Kirova's office _constantly_ and pretty much be a complete bitch."

Viktoria looked slightly surprised. "I can't imagine you like that. You seem so, I don't know, the complete opposite." She laughed.

I chuckled. "A lot of things have happened recently, not all of them good things, to change me."

Dimitri rubbed my arm comfortingly, knowing I was thinking about Victor Dashkov and Mason.

Viktoria seemed to notice my slight drop in excitement and grabbed my arm. "It's time to get ready!"

I groaned. This was always the worst part about going out, especially when we still had _four hours _until we had to leave.

We spent the next four hours idly chatting and taking our time getting ready. It was time well spent, however, because we looked stunning when we were finished.

I had on a short black dress which was similar to the one I wore when affected by the lust charm. It came to my mid-thigh and clung in all the right places, amplifying my cleavage. It wasn't slutty though and I knew Dimitri would appreciate it. I don't think he'd like the idea of everyone else appreciating it, however.

Viktoria was also wearing a reasonably short dress, not as bad as mine though. It also wasn't as low cut, but it did make her, smaller than mine, cleavage look slightly bigger. It was a deep red and the colour suited her.

Our make up was understated and we had only applied some mascara and eyeliner. Our shoes matched our dresses and we were ready to go.

We walked down the stairs together and then into the living room where the whole family were sitting. I vaguely saw Olena's disapproving look at Viktoria's outfit before I was caught up with Dimitri's reaction. His eyes practically bugged out of his head. He stood up and pulled me into him, one arm around my waist. "I think I might to come to this party just so I can watch you in that dress all night." He whispered quietly, but huskily, in my ear.

I chuckled. "The invitation is still open." I replied.

He laughed, but didn't reply. Dimitri was giving us a lift anyway and then we were walking back again. It was only a couple of streets away, but I had managed to persuade him that our hair and make-up would get ruined, even in that short amount of time.

Dimitri drove off again quickly, after giving me what was intended to be a quick peck on the lips and ended up being a rather heated kiss. Viktoria and me linked arms and walked into the large house that shook with the loud music being blasted from inside.

We grinned to each other as people gave us appreciative glances. I wasn't sure how often Viktoria attended parties, but it looked as if she knew most of the people there. They were all dhampir's and I guessed they went to her school. I was glad there weren't any Moroi, they tended to expect blood and sex whenever dhampirs were involved at parties.

I, however, had met very few of her friends and stayed close to her side, a drink I had barely touched in my hand. When I did recognise someone, it was Viktoria's friend Nikolai. I went over to talk to them, whilst Viktoria stayed chatting to some other people.

We fell into an easy conversation and he introduced his brother Dennis. His name seemed kind of unoriginal compared to Nikolai. I had only met Nikolai the first couple of days I had been in Russia, so he didn't know about my relationship with Dimitri.

He went off to talk to some other friends then and I stayed with Dennis. He was nice enough and we talked naturally. He was quite good looking as well, but obviously nothing compared to Dimitri. We soon got dancing and I finished my drink unconsciously. I was no where near drunk, or even tipsy for that matter, but the alcohol was beginning to affect my connection to Lissa. Despite my determination to not drink, the temptation became to much and it just seemed natural. That didn't mean I was going to get hammered though.

I danced with Dennis for a while and then other people too. They all seemed nice enough and I had a laugh, making sure I took note of Viktoria throughout the night. She had had a _lot _more to drink than me, so while I was only tipsy by the end of the night, she was slurring and not walking in a straight line.

I ended up supporting her practically the whole way back to the house, listening to her meaningless conversation that consisted of both Russian and English and understanding neither.

That was until two Strigoi sprung up at us.


	16. Chapter 16

_Next Chapter! Thank you for all the reviews and I hope you enjoy this chapter! I noticed a lot of people saying Rose is out of character, and I know what you mean -.- I'm going to try and make her more realistic now, I hope it gets better! _

_Please review and I hope you enjoy it!_

_I'm thinking of going back to the Academy quite soon, I'm running out of ideas of things to happen in Russia..._

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Chapter Sixteen…

I should have known better. I should have known this would happen. But, I was still too naïve. This whole party thing was a bad idea. It was dark and the Strigoi were hunting me. Why wouldn't they take advantage of a time when I wasn't completely sober and was in a dress and heels? I should have at least gotten Dimitri to pick us back up again.

Unhesitatingly, I removed my stake from its hidden spot between my breasts. Viktoria was too drunk to do anything, so she just stood there looking terrified. The Strigoi didn't pay any attention to her though. "Ring Dimitri." I barked at her.

She fumbled with the phone and I saw her back away slowly. I turned my attention to the two monsters in front of me. They were both male and had the typical red ringed eyes and chalky white skin. My guess was that they had both been Dhampir before being turned, making me at even more of a disadvantage - they more than likely had a fighting history.

I kicked the heels, which luckily weren't attached with straps, off and stood ready. Any effects the alcohol had had rapidly vanished and I effectively dodged a kick to my exposed thigh. Viktoria was out of sight now and I hoped that meant she would get away safely no matter what. We weren't far from the house, but it was far enough away that I could easily be killed before anyone could do anything about it.

I didn't have time to try an offensive manoeuvre because they were using their numbers against me. Alternating their attacks and keeping me on my toes. I was no doubt covered in bruises and I had managed to get a couple of gashes on each leg.

I righted myself after a punch to my arm and noticed them sneering at me. My anger bubbled within me. I was losing energy fast and they both new it. While they were too busy being pleased with themselves, I lunged forward in my first attack, grazing my stake against ones cheek and then plunging it into its heart.

Mightily pleased with my staking, I momentarily forgot the Strigoi's companion. Not a smart move. I was whisked off my feet and thrown to the ground. I tried to get up, but I had hit my head and was disorientated. The spinning world got worse as I was pushed against the wall hand around my throat, stake falling from my hand as I struggled to breath.

"I've finally got you." He hissed, bringing his mouth closer to my throat, smiling venomously. "Such a pretty thing too, shame your to dangerous to have a bit of fun with."

I screamed helplessly, but his other hand promptly covered my mouth. He kept my body immobilised with his own, but it didn't stop me thrashing against him and trying to break free. I could feel his breath on my neck now and I new what was going to happen. He was going to bite me. Either kill me or turn me and there was nothing I could do about it.

That didn't mean there wasn't someone else who could do something about it though. A strangled cry came from the Strigoi before it went limp against me, stake protruding from its back.

Dimitri promptly threw the body away and off me. I was too stunned to move, until he pulled me into his arms. That was the closest to death I had ever been, even worse than Spokane. "God, I'm glad your okay." He whispered gently in my ear.

"Thank you." I mumbled back. Then a thought came to mind. "Is Viktoria okay?" I asked, becoming increasingly worried. She had clearly rung Dimitri, but that didn't mean she had gotten back to the house.

He ran his hand over my hair. "She's fine. I saw her almost at the house when I came to get you." He informed me. I nodded against his chest. Dimitri bent down and picked up my heels and stake. "Lets go home." He encouraged, keeping his hand around my waist.

I was recovering from the shock of my near-death experience now and could walk straight again. I allowed Dimitri to keep his supporting arm in place though and grabbed his other hand with my own.

It was then that I realised how much my feet hurt. I had fought barefoot and that had been bad enough, I was now walking on them. "Dimitri my feet kill." I hinted.

He chuckled lightly and hooked an arm behind my legs, pulling me up to his chest and then carrying on walking. I rested my head on his shoulder. It was too dark for him to see the cuts and bruises on me yet, but I knew he would make a fuss over it when he did.

I let him carry me without speaking and relaxed into his arms. Aside from what had just happened, I would class this as romantic.

When we walked through the door, the whole family was there waiting to see what had happened and how we were. Dimitri put me back on the ground, but kept an arm around me. I noticed Viktoria sat on the sofa, still looking like she was in shock. I had a feeling that all the alcohol in her system wasn't helping.

I sat down next to her whilst Dimitri assured everyone I was okay. She was visibly shaking despite the blanket she was gripping tightly around her. I didn't know what to say to her, so I put an arm around her in a comforting hug. "You were really brave calling Dimitri for me." I told her.

She nodded, probably not really listening. "I wish I could have done more. You look a mess, are you okay?" She asked, studying my dishevelled state.

I shrugged. "I almost died, but hey, I saved my heels."

She laughed. "I'm glad your okay."

"You too."

Me and Dimitri went up to our room after that. Dimitri cleaned the cuts and gashes gently, but I still winced. Lissa's magic would have been a blessing right now. We snuggled up into bed after that, but I couldn't sleep yet.

We lay facing each other, not speaking but still sending a thousand messages between us.

"If Viktoria got hurt today it would have been my fault." I told him honestly, the guilt weighing me down. She hadn't even been touched and she was still terrified, if she had actually been hurt I would have never forgiven myself.

"No it wouldn't." He reassured me. "Besides, if you hadn't been there, she would have gotten hurt." He reasoned.

I shook my head. "If she hadn't have been with me, the Strigoi wouldn't have attacked her."

"You don't know that for sure. She was drunk and definitely unable to defend herself, why wouldn't they attack her?" Dimitri asked rhetorically.

I sighed, not being bothered to come up with another argument. I knew there was some knowledge in his reasoning, but I was right too. If I hadn't come then they wouldn't have even been seen by the Strigoi, what would happen now when I left? Would the Strigoi still attack his family?

My mind still spinning, I settled down into an uneasy sleep.

Thankfully Adrian didn't dream walk with me tonight, I was too tired and I just wanted to sleep and forget about the attack.

When I woke up, Dimitri's side of the bed was empty. I missed his warmth instantly, so got up and went to find him.

He was downstairs watching some Russian channel on the TV and laughing with Viktoria, who sat next to him. She looked like normal again and any signs of terror were gone. I think now that she had sobered up she had gotten over it a bit.

I sat down next to Dimitri and his arm automatically slid around my waist. He didn't acknowledge me otherwise and carried on watching the program.

I studied the images on the TV and tried to work out what was happening. It was impossible. There were just people walking around and walking with the occasional hug or kiss. It looked like any other soap, but it was apparently a comedy if I was going by how much they were both laughing. I gave up in the end and just sat comfortably, savouring Dimitri's embrace.

When I really did get bored, I went into Lissa's head. She was sat in Adrian's room, along with Christian, Adrian himself and Eddie. It was nearly curfew there, but I had a feeling they weren't planning to obey that rule.

They were chatting about nothing important and laughing about some of the latest gossip. Apparently there had been a big party in the woods last night which the guardians had had to break up, no surprises that the hosts were Jesse and Ralf. Fortunately, my friends had all avoided it.

I listened in on there chatter, finding the normality of their conversations somehow reassuring. With all the stress and surprise that were being sprung on me recently, it felt nice to relax and listen to a normal conversation even if I couldn't participate and wasn't technically there.

There conversation topic soon turned to something more interesting though - me. "I wonder if Rose if having fun?" Lissa wondered aloud. "She said it wouldn't be weird because her and Dimitri are always training together, but its hardly the same right? He's still her teacher. I can't imagine being stuck with a teacher in a foreign country with their family and being okay with it." She informed the group.

Eddie and Christian seemed to consider it, whilst Adrian looked like he was biting his tongue on a sarcastic remark. "Don't forget he's her friend though." Christian reminded her. "It would be a different thing completely if she said she was going with say, Stan. They hate each other."

I almost laughed out loud imagining me and Stan on any kind of trip together. He would probably be dead before we even started.

Lissa still didn't seem convinced. She couldn't imagine me actually enjoying myself when I was with Dimitri, because he always seemed so formal and strict. She didn't know him like I did and she didn't know how close we really were. She just assumed my outgoing personality would clash with his quiet and serious one. "But they never even seem to talk to each other out of training times, and with Dimitri I can't imagine them doing anything other than practice in those. The only times I've ever seen them talk was on the trip to the mall that time and when guardian things are happening."

Lissa was right, me and Dimitri hardly ever talked when she was around. She was however wrong about our practice sessions. Although most of the time they were completely business, that was when most of the unruly things happened as well.

I noticed Adrian visibly biting his lip on a comment and I silently willed him to keep quiet. "Like you said, you've hardly seen them talk out of training, but your not with her constantly - they could talk all the time and you wouldn't necessarily know. Also, whenever something happens and Rose comes to get you, it's always Dimitri with her right? That has to count for something, she trusts him." Eddie told her.

Lissa thought about that and was surprised at how right he was. When she had been having trouble with the animals that Natalie left and there was the rabbit, it was Dimitri I'd called to help me with her. And when I had fallen of the bench and she'd healed me, Dimitri had been the one to carry me in and that guardian mask of his had slipped ever so slightly, allowing a small amount of concern to be shown. He'd also stayed with me when everyone else had been forced to leave. Then she remembered who I had told about her problems. I had told Dimitri, because I trusted him.

Eddie was right. I did trust Dimitri. It was clear to her now that there was a lot she was assuming and that me and Dimitri probably were quite good friends. And even if we weren't, I still trusted and respected him and that was a good thing.

"Yeah you're right." Lissa agreed. "I never thought of it like that."

Before I could listen to there lighter topics once again, a brief shake of the shoulders brought dragged me back to reality. Viktoria was peering over me and I noticed Dimitri was gone. "That is _weird_." She exclaimed. "It's like your there but not."

I chuckled. "I bet I look really gormless."

Viktoria laughed and agreed with me. "So, is anything interesting happening back at your school?"

I shook my head. "Nothing whatsoever. Lissa was just wondering if I'm having a good time here because she couldn't imagine me and Dimitri really being good friends, she thinks I'll be bored because he's too serious."

Viktoria looked at me incredulously. "Has nobody noticed you two? Honestly?" She said. "Not only can they not tell your together but your best friend doesn't even think that you're really friends."

I laughed. "Only Adrian really knows about us. You should have seen him trying to bite back the sarcastic remarks when Lissa was saying how much she thinks our personalities would clash."

"Why don't you just tell people?" She asked, rather stupidly. "I mean, not everyone, just your friends." She added when she noticed my expression.

I sighed. "I don't want to risk it. If someone overheard, if someone saw, it would all be a disaster. I'm not willing to risk Dimitri's career because I told someone. That's why we have to stay away from each other when we get back to school."

Viktoria looked shocked, she obviously hadn't even thought about the consequences of a mentor being in a relationship with his student. It was just her brother having a girlfriend to her. "Your really going to have to avoid each other when you get back? I can't imagine you and Dimitri staying apart." She explained.

I shrugged. "It's not exactly an option, besides its not _that _long until graduation. Just over six months."

It felt like forever until graduation though. Six months was more like a lifetime when it was how long you had to cut any intimate contact with the man you love.

She seemed to doubt me as much as I did, but let it drop and carried on talking about the latest gossip at her school. It was kind of pointless seeing as though I didn't know anyone. It was also old because she was on holiday and hadn't been at school since a couple of days before me and Dimitri arrived. I listened anyway and found it more interesting than I would if she'd pushed the Dimitri topic.


End file.
